Stereospecific Polymerization of Isoprene with Nd(BH4)3(THF)3/MgBu2 as Catalyst
The neodymium trisborohydride Nd(BH 4 ) 3 - (THF) 3 (THF = tetrahydrofuran) has been used as a catalyst precursor for isoprene polymerization for the first time. Associated to an excess of Al(Et) 3 , the resulting catalyst is moderately active, giving a mixture of cis- and trans- polymer. Addition of a stoichiometric amount of MgBu 2 to Nd(BH 4 ) 3 (THF) 3 affords a stereospecific catalyst providing trans-1,4-polyisoprene, more than 96% regular. That dual component Nd/Mg system also shows a better efficiency and good control of the molecular weights. A molecular structure is tentatively attributed to a bimetallic active species, based on 1 H NMR experiments.
Optical active centres in ZnO samples
Abstract In recent years, there has been a resurgence in the interest in the use of ZnO (Eg ∼ 3.37 eV) as a material for a wide range of opto-emitter applications spanning visible and short wavelengths. Bulk, thin films and nanomaterials obtained using different synthesis methods have been investigated for optoelectronic and biotechnological device applications. Nominally undoped bulk samples typically present a myriad-structured near-band-edge recombination, mainly due to free/bound excitons and donor–acceptor pair transitions. Furthermore, deep level emission due to intrinsic defects and extrinsic impurities, such as transition metal ions, are commonly observed in different grades of bulk…