Industrial compound gets eco-friendly reaction
Scientists have found catalysts that improve an important industrial reaction and make it more eco-friendly
2021-02-10
(Press-News.org) Nagoya University scientists have developed a chemical reaction that produces high yields of a compound used in a wide variety of industries, without needing high temperatures or toxic catalysts. The approach was described in the journal ACS Catalysis and offers a practical and sustainable solution for industrial (meth)acrylate (= acrylate or methacrylate) ester synthesis.
(Meth)acrylate esters are used in industrial coatings and masonry, and to make plastics, dyes and adhesives. But the chemical process for making them from methyl (meth)acrylates involves high temperatures, long reaction times and toxic compounds. It can also result in unwanted side reactions.
Scientists, including Nagoya University professor Kazuaki Ishihara and colleagues, have been working on improving this process to make it more eco-friendly. Specifically, they worked on improving the catalyst involved in the chemical reaction that turns methyl (meth)acrylates into (meth)acrylate esters, called transesterification.
"Millions of tons of (meth)acrylate esters are produced annually and are among the most important manufactured chemicals around," says Ishihara. "Their transesterification, using alcohol and a catalyst, fine-tunes their properties, producing a wide range of (meth)acrylate esters."
Ishihara and his colleagues found that sterically bulky sodium and magnesium aryloxides worked very well as non-toxic alternatives. They catalysed the transesterification of methyl (meth)acrylates at the relatively mild temperature of 25°C, producing high yields of a broad range of (meth)acrylate esters depending on the type of alcohol used in the reaction.
The team also conducted computational calculations to uncover the details of what happened during the chemical reaction, showing that it had high chemoselectivity; in other words, the reaction happened the way the scientists wanted it to without having undesirable side reactions.
"Our transesterification process is a practical and sustainable candidate for industrial (meth)acrylate ester synthesis, providing excellent chemoselectivity, high yields, mild reaction conditions and a lack of any toxic metal salts," says Ishihara.
The team next aims to collaborate with colleagues in industry to use their approach in (meth)acrylate ester production. They also aim to continue searching for efficient catalysts for the transesterification of methyl (meth)acrylates and to develop recyclable catalysts.
INFORMATION:
The study, "Chemoselective Transesterification of Methyl (Meth)acrylates Catalyzed by Sodium(I) or Magnesium(II) Aryloxides," was published online in ACS Catalysis on December 16, 2020 at DOI: 10.1021/acscatal.0c04217.
About Nagoya University, Japan
Nagoya University has a history of about 150 years, with its roots in a temporary medical school and hospital established in 1871, and was formally instituted as the last Imperial University of Japan in 1939. Although modest in size compared to the largest universities in Japan, Nagoya University has been pursuing excellence since its founding. Six of the 18 Japanese Nobel Prize-winners since 2000 did all or part of their Nobel Prize-winning work at Nagoya University: four in Physics - Toshihide Maskawa and Makoto Kobayashi in 2008, and Isamu Akasaki and Hiroshi Amano in 2014; and two in Chemistry - Ryoji Noyori in 2001 and Osamu Shimomura in 2008. In mathematics, Shigefumi Mori did his Fields Medal-winning work at the University. A number of other important discoveries have also been made at the University, including the Okazaki DNA Fragments by Reiji and Tsuneko Okazaki in the 1960s; and depletion forces by Sho Asakura and Fumio Oosawa in 1954.
Website: http://en.nagoya-u.ac.jp/
[Attachments] See images for this press release:
ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:
2021-02-10
As families settle back into a new school year, sleep experts at the University of South Australia are reminding parents about the importance of teenagers getting enough sleep, cautioning them that insufficient sleep can negatively affect their mental health.
In a new research paper, UniSA sleep experts Dr Alex Agostini and Dr Stephanie Centofanti confirm that sleep is intrinsically linked to mental health, but is commonly overlooked by health practitioners as a contributing factor.
Dr Agostini says it's imperative that parents and medical practitioners ...
2021-02-10
For all their importance as a breakthrough treatment, the cancer immunotherapies known as checkpoint inhibitors still only benefit a small minority of patients, perhaps 15 percent across different types of cancer. Moreover, doctors cannot accurately predict which of their patients will respond.
A new study finds that inherited genetic variation plays a role in who is likely to benefit from checkpoint inhibitors, which release the immune system's brakes so it can attack cancer. The study also points to potential new targets that could help even more patients unleash their immune system's natural power to fight ...
2021-02-10
DALLAS, Feb. 10, 2021 — Reducing the prevalence of obesity may prevent up to half of new Type 2 diabetes cases in the United States, according to new research published today in the Journal of the American Heart Association, an open access journal of the American Heart Association. Obesity is a major contributor to diabetes, and the new study suggests more tailored efforts are needed to reduce the incidence of obesity-related diabetes.
Type 2 diabetes is the most common form of diabetes, affecting more than 31 million Americans, according to the U.S. Centers ...
2021-02-10
Researchers at Uppsala University and the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences have used new methods for DNA sequencing and annotation to build a new, and more complete, dog reference genome. This tool will serve as the foundation for a new era of research, helping scientists to better understand the link between DNA and disease, in dogs and in their human friends. The research is presented in the journal Communications Biology.
The dog has been aiding our understanding of the human genome since both genomes were released in the early 2000s. At that time, a comparison of both genomes, and two others, revealed that the human genome contained circa 20,000 genes, down ...
2021-02-10
Increased level of plasma cells linked to improved cancer survival
1,300 prostate tumor samples studied
Immunotherapy-based precision medicine clinical trials being developed
CHICAGO--- Black men die more often of prostate cancer yet, paradoxically, have greater survival benefits from immunotherapy treatment. A new Northwestern Medicine study discovered the reason appears to be an increase of a surprising type of immune cell in the tumor. The findings could lead to immune-based precision medicine treatment for men of all races with localized aggressive and advanced prostate cancer.
In the new study, Northwestern scientists showed tumors from Black men and men ...
2021-02-10
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. -- When modified using a process known as epoxidation, two naturally occurring lipids are converted into potent agents that target multiple cannabinoid receptors in neurons, interrupting pathways that promote pain and inflammation, researchers report. These modified compounds, called epo-NA5HT and epo-NADA, have much more powerful effects than the molecules from which they are derived, which also regulate pain and inflammation.
Reported in the journal Nature Communications, the study opens a new avenue of research in the effort to find alternatives to potentially addictive opioid pain killers, researchers say.
The ...
2021-02-10
Tokyo, Japan - Researchers from Institute of Industrial Science at The University of Tokyo investigated the mechanism of phase separation into the two phases with very different particle mobilities using computer simulations. They found that slow dynamics of complex connected networks control the rate of demixing, which can assist in the design of new functional porous materials, like lithium-ion batteries.
According to the old adage, oil and water don't mix. If you try to do it anyway, you will see the fascinating process of phase separation, in which the two immiscible liquids spontaneously "demix." In this case, the minority phase always forms droplets. Contrary to this, the researchers ...
2021-02-10
Osaka, Japan - Investigators from the Institute of Scientific and Industrial Research at Osaka University, together with Hiroshima Institute of Technology, have announced the discovery of a new protein that allows an organism to conduct an initial and essential step in converting amino acid residues on a crosslinked polypeptide into an enzyme cofactor. This research may lead to a better understanding of the biochemistry underlying catalysis in cells.
Every living cell is constantly pulsing with an array of biochemical reactions. The rates of these reactions are controlled by special proteins called enzymes, which catalyze specific processes that would otherwise take much longer. A number of enzymes require specialized molecules called "cofactors," which can help shuttle electrons ...
2021-02-10
As indicated by other studies, different parts of the brain are responsible for different types of decisions. A research team led by Luca Franziska Kaiser and Prof. Dr. Gerhard Jocham from the HHU working group 'Biological Psychology of Decision Making', and Dr. Theo Gruendler together with colleagues in Magdeburg analysed the balance of the messenger substances GABA and glutamate in two forms of decision-making. The background to the research was to find out how different concentrations of these substances influence the person making the decision.
On the one hand, the researchers looked at 'reward-based decisions', which involve maximising reward by selecting the better of two ...
2021-02-10
It is now possible to capture images of planets that could potentially sustain life around nearby stars, thanks to advances reported by an international team of astronomers in the journal Nature Communications.
Using a newly developed system for mid-infrared exoplanet imaging, in combination with a very long observation time, the study's authors say they can now use ground-based telescopes to directly capture images of planets about three times the size of Earth within the habitable zones of nearby stars.
Efforts to directly image exoplanets - planets outside our solar system - have been hamstrung by technological limitations, resulting in a bias toward the detection of easier-to-see planets that are much larger than Jupiter and are located around very young stars and far outside the ...
LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES:
[Press-News.org] Industrial compound gets eco-friendly reaction
Scientists have found catalysts that improve an important industrial reaction and make it more eco-friendly
