Sandra Kontrec

Bio: Sandra Kontrec is an academic researcher from BIA Separations (Slovenia). The author has contributed to research in topics: Methacrylate & Monolithic HPLC column. The author has an hindex of 2, co-authored 2 publications receiving 251 citations.

Design and Preparation of Porous Polymers

Abstract: Dingcai Wu,*,† Fei Xu,† Bin Sun,† Ruowen Fu,† Hongkun He,‡ and Krzysztof Matyjaszewski*,‡ †Materials Science Institute, Key Laboratory for Polymeric Composite and Functional Materials of Ministry of Education, School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou 510275, People's Republic of China ‡Department of Chemistry, Carnegie Mellon University, 4400 Fifth Avenue, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15213, United States

Functional Porous Polymers by Emulsion Templating: Recent Advances

Abstract: Porous materials are currently of great scientific as well as technological interest. A strategy that is increasingly employed to prepare highly porous and well defined macroporous polymers is emulsion templating, whereby the droplets of a high internal phase emulsion are used to create pores in a solid material by curing or polymerization of the emulsion continuous phase. This Feature Article covers recent work in this area, focusing on: the preparation of such materials from new precursors and via novel approaches; the chemical modification of existing materials; and the application of the resulting porous structures in diverse areas of science and technology.

Precision Polymer Synthesis by Degenerative Transfer Controlled/Living Radical Polymerization Using Organotellurium, Organostibine, and Organobismuthine Chain-Transfer Agents

Abstract: Structurally well-defined macromolecules are ubiquitous in nature, with enzymes as prime examples. They are admired not only for the beauty of their structures but also for their ability to catalyze a variety of chemical transformations under mild conditions. For example, nitrogenase catalyzes nitrogen fixation under physiological conditions,1,2 whereas the same reaction in a chemical reactor by the Haber-Bosch process requires ultrahigh pressures and temperatures. The key to the functions of enzymes is the monodispersity and completely controlled amino acid (monomer) sequences of the polymer chain in the biomacromolecule, leading to highly ordered three-dimensional structures. This control combined with the existence of polar functional groups on the amino acid residues precisely located near the active center orchestrates the activity of enzymes. By extrapolating from the structural and functional features of enzymes, one should be able to create new polymers with new properties and/or functions based on precise control of macromolecular structures, namely, molecular weight, molecular weight distribution (MWD), monomer sequence, topology, functional groups, and stereochemistry (tacticity). Controlling all of these factors is a formidable challenge, but significant advances have been made toward this goal since the advent of controlled/living radical polymerization (LRP). Living anionic,3,4 cationic,5 and coordination polymerization6-8 have already been used to control molecular weights and MWDs of the resulting polymers and monomer sequences through block copolymer synthesis. However, these * To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: yamago@ scl.kyoto-u.ac.jp. Shigeru Yamago received his B.S. and Ph.D in chemistry from Tokyo Institute of Technology in 1986 and 1991, respectively, under the supervision of Professor Eiichi Nakamura. During that time, he joined Professor Peter Vollhardt’s group at U.C. Berkeley as a summer student (1988). He became an assistant professor at Tokyo Institute of Technology in 1991 in the group of Professor Eiichi Nakamura and then moved to Kyoto University in 1995 in the group of Professor Jun-ichi Yoshida. He was a Visiting Scientist in Dr. Chryssostomos Chatgilialoglu’s group at Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche in Bologna (2000). In 2003, he was appointed Professor of Osaka City University. He had been a Research Fellow of PRESTO program in the Japan Science and Technology Agency from 2002 to 2006. In 2006, he joined Institute for Chemical Research at Kyoto University where he holds Professorship. He received the Incentive Award in Synthetic Organic Chemistry from the Society of Synthetic Organic Chemistry, Japan, in 2001. His research interests include synthetic organic and polymer chemistry, radical chemistry, and element chemistry. Chem. Rev. 2009, 109, 5051–5068 5051

High internal phase emulsion templating--a path to hierarchically porous functional polymers.

Abstract: Recently, a series of new monomers and polymerization mechanisms has been applied to the templating of high internal phase emulsions (HIPEs) providing a route to hierarchically porous materials with a range of functionalities and applications The high degree of control over the pore size is another attractive feature of these materials Usually, the continuous phase contains monomers, the droplet phase is used to template the large, primary pores, which are interconnected by secondary pores The addition of nonpolymerizable components to the continuous phase can result in phase separation during polymerization and tertiary pores Applications include polymer supports for catalysis and synthesis, separation and filtration, cell culture media, enzyme supports, and structural and isolation applications