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We observed the agreement between energies barrier for dissociation determined by Rubinstein and van’t Hoff approaches, which implies that the dielectric Debye-like process of phenyl alcohols is governed by the association–dissociation phenomenon.

In this paper, we have investigated the molecular dynamics of the associating polymer, poly(mercaptopropyl)methylsiloxane (PMMS), at high pressure (up to p ∼ 505 MPa) by means of broadband dielectric spectroscopy. Previous studies revealed that PMMS exhibits two dielectric relaxation processes observed above the glass transition temperature related, most likely, to either the mobility within self-assemblies or the sub-Rouse mode (α′-slower process) and segmental (α-faster process) dynamics, whereas mechanical measurements revealed only the presence of terminal and segmental relaxations [Tarnacka et al. Macromolecules 2020, 53 (22), 10225−10233]. In order to determine the origin of the dielectric α′-process, further high-pressure experiments were performed. It was found that the timescale separation between relaxation times of segmental (α) and α′-processes is invariant to the compression, and activation volume calculated for both kinds of motions is comparable. These dynamical features are characteristic of the chain relaxation (called usually normal mode) found in type-A polymers. However, because mechanical data excluded identification of the slow dielectric relaxation as normal mode, we assigned it as the sub-Rouse process. This assignment is in the line with previous studies on poly(methylphenyl)siloxane. Further density functional theory computations revealed that the detection of the relatively strong sub-Rouse process is most likely possible due to the presence of a highly polar side group (thiol, −SH, moiety) that gives a strong contribution to dipole moment along the main polymer backbone. Additionally, we demonstrated that the pressure coefficient of the glass transition temperature, dTg/dp, in PMMS is one of the smallest among those reported to date for various polymers (dTg/dp = 156 K/GPa). This quite surprising finding was assigned to the specific interactions formed by the thiol group. Finally, it should be emphasized that high-pressure experiments turned out to be the key element to identify the sub- Rouse mode in dielectric spectraa process that might provide important information about the chain dynamics in polysiloxanes. However, to finally prove this hypothesis, further studies are required to discard the eventual possibility that the slow mode is somehow related to the nanoscopic organization in PMMS.

Star-shaped glycopolymers due to the attractive combination of the physicochemical, morphological, self-assembly properties along with biological activity have gained increased attention as innovative agents in novel cancer therapies. Unfortunately, the production of these highly desirable biomaterials remains a challenge in modern macromolecular chemistry. The main reason for that is the low polymerizability of ionic glycomonomers originated from their steric congestion and the occurrence of ionic interactions that generally negatively influence the polymerization progress and hinder controllable reaction pathway. In this work, the new ionic sugar monomer was (co)polymerized for the first time via Activator Generated by Electron Transfer Atom Transfer Radical Polymerization (AGET ATRP) using a three-arm resveratrol-based core to obtain star-like (co)polymers. The obtained products were examined in terms of their physicochemical properties and morphology. Aside from the synthesis of these new glycopolymers, also a thorough description of their thermal properties, ability to self-assembly, the formation of stable superstructures was studied in detail. It was found that examined (co)polymers did not show any heterogeneities and phase separation, while their variation of glass transition temperature (Tg) was strictly related to the change in the number of glycomonomer. Also, the stability and shapes of formed superstructures strictly depend on their composition and topology. Finally, we have shown that synthesized carbohydrate-based polymers revealed high antiproliferative activity against several cancer cell lines (i.e., breast, colon, glioma, and lung cancer). The cytotoxic activity was particularly observed for star-shaped polymers that were systematically enhanced with the growing concentration of amine moieties and molecular weight. The results presented herein suggest that synthesized star-shaped glyco(co)polymers are promising as drug or gene carriers in anticancer therapies or anti-tumor agents, depending on their cytotoxicity. Graphical abstract

The first example of intrachannel photo-ATRP utilizing AAO templates of different nanostructure interfaces.

Herein, we investigated the molecular dynamics as well as intramolecular interactions in two primary monohydroxy alcohols (MA), 2-ethyl-1-hexanol (2EHOH) and n-butanol (nBOH), by means of broad-band dielectric (BDS) and Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy. The modeling data obtained from dielectric studies within the Rubinstein approach [Macromolecules2013, 46, 7525−7541] originally developed to describe the dynamical properties of self-assembling macromolecules allowed us to calculate the energy barrier (Ea) of dissociation from the temperature dependences of relaxation times of Debye and structural processes. We found Ea ∼ 19.4 ± 0.8 and 5.3 ± 0.4 kJ/mol for the former and latter systems, respectively. On the other hand, FTIR data analyzed within the van’t Hoff relationship yielded the energy barriers for dissociation Ea ∼ 20.3 ± 2.1 and 12.4 ± 1.6 kJ/mol for 2EHOH and nBOH, respectively. Hence, there was almost a perfect agreement between the values of Ea estimated from dielectric and FTIR studies for the 2EHOH, while some notable discrepancy was noted for the second alcohol. A quite significant difference in the activation barrier of dissociation indicates that there are probably supramolecular clusters of varying geometry or a ring-chain-like equilibrium is strongly affected in both alcohols. Nevertheless, our analysis showed that the association/dissociation processes undergoing within nanoassociates are one of the main factors underlying the molecular origin of the Debye process, supporting the transient chain model.

Herein, broadband dielectric (BDS) and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), together with differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and X-ray diffraction (XRD), were applied to study the molecular dynamics, molecular interactions as well as physical stability of an amorphous Active Pharmaceutical Ingredient (API)-probucol (PRO)-infiltrated into anodic aluminum oxide (AAO) membranes of pore size, d ~ 10-160 nm. Interestingly, the behavior of examined substance strongly depends on the applied thermal protocol. Remarkably, for the first time, we observed that the structural dynamics of the slowly cooled PRO under confinement is significantly enhanced when compared to thatofthe quenched material. This unusual behavior was interpreted as a result of surface-induced effects (including the formation of well-resolved interfacial H-bonded layer and adsorption-desorption processes near the interface) that are magnified by the extremely high sensitivity to density fluctuation of studied PRO, reflected in the enormous pressure coefficient of the glass transition temperature dTg/dp = 427 K/GPa. In fact, FTIR investigations revealed that PRO tends to self-associate under confinement and forms a strongly bonded interfacial layer, which controls the variation in the structural dynamics of core molecules. Finally, we observed that the tendency to crystallize of confined API is reduced with respect to the bulk, even though the critical size of PRO nuclei (rc ~ 3 nm) is significantly lower than the smallest examined pore size. Nevertheless, after few weeks of storage, the investigated substance crystallized in larger pores, while it remained stable in the nanochannels of d = 10 nm. A combination of XRD and DSC measurements indicated that the infiltrated PRO forms two polymorphs, the stable form I (dominating in bulk) and unstable form II (prevailing under confinement). That means that porous matrices might be used to obtain and maintain prolonged stability of unstable polymorphic forms of API.

In this study, we report the acid-catalyzed and high pressure assisted ring-opening polymerization (ROP) of g-butyrolactone (GBL). The use of a dually-catalyzed approach combining an external physical factor and internal catalyst (trifluoromethanesulfonic acid (TfOH) or p-toluenesulfonic acid (PTSA)) enforced ROP of GBL, which is considered as hardly polymerizable monomer still remaining a challenge for the modern polymer chemistry. The experiments performed at various thermodynamic conditions (T ¼ 278–323 K and p ¼ 700–1500 MPa) clearly showed that the high pressure supported polymerization process led to obtaining well-defined macromolecules of better parameters (Mn ¼ 2200–9700 g mol 1; Đ ¼ 1.05–1.46) than those previously reported. Furthermore, the parabolic-like dependence of both the molecular weight (MW) and the yield of obtained polymers on variation in temperature and pressure at either isobaric or isothermal conditions was also noticed, allowing the determination of optimal conditions for the polymerization process. However, most importantly, this strategy allowed to significantly reduce the reaction time (just 3 h at room temperature) and increase the yield of obtained polymers (up to 0.62 gPGBL/gGBL). Moreover, despite using a strongly acidic catalyst, synthesized polymers remained non-toxic and biocompatible, as proven by the cytotoxicity test we performed in further analysis. Additional investigation (including MALDI-TOF measurements) showed that the catalyst selection affected not only MW and yield but also the linear/cyclic form content in obtained macromolecules. These findings show the way to tune the properties of PGBL and obtain polymer suitable for application in the biomedical industry.

This work highlights the development of a robust and universal route towards gaining control over macromolecule molecular weight, molecular weight distribution and, more importantly, morphology through the implementation of photoiniferter-mediated RAFT (photo-RAFT) carried out using mesoporous materials varying in the composition, pore arrangement, and pore diameters (metal–organic framework SBA-15 powder d = 5–15 nm, silica SiO2 templates d = 4 nm, alumina oxide AAO templates d = 10 nm). In fact, the application of these matrices that can act as nanoreactors for in situ UV-irradiated photo-RAFT of both commercial methyl methacrylate (more-activated monomer) and the synthesized N-vinyl-1,2,4-triazolium-based ionic liquid (less-activated monomer) is a key aspect of our approach. The collected data allowed us to probe the influence of the structural features of nanoreactors (i.e., transparency, porosity, roughness, and acidity) as well as confinement-related effects connected to variation in free volume and surface interactions on the polymerization path and properties of the produced ionic and non-ionic polymers. It was found that the application of all tested nanoreactors ensures greater control over photo-RAFT than analogous batch systems (macroscale photo-RAFT). However, running the reaction in mesoporous AAO templates offered by far the best control over the course of photo-RAFT of both the less-activated monomer (LAM) and the more-activated monomer (MAM) irrespective of the type of selected RAFT agent (switchable) (carbamodithioate vs. trithiocarbonate), their properties and, more importantly, the yield of the recovered polymers.

The innovative combination of light and high pressure allowed us to effectively polymerize for the first time challenging ionic 1,2,4-triazolium-based ionic liquids (ILs) with fluorinate anions (MetTRI/NTF) and non-ionic vinyl acetate (VAc), both classified as less-activated monomers (LAMs). Three different synthetic photo-induced protocols comprising controlled metal-free organocatalyzed Atom Transfer Radical Polymerization (O-ATRP), chain transfer to solvent free-radical polymerization (CT-FRP), and classical free-radical polymerization (FRP) were investigated. As a result, well-defined polymers with a wide range of molecular weights Mn and different concentrations of OH domains incorporated into their polymer backbones in a very short time frame (5–120 min) were produced. Having a series of 1,2,4-triazolium-based poly(ionic liquid)s (PILs), a unique opportunity appeared to study the relationship between their molecular weights, glass transition temperature, and dc conductivity, undoubtedly enriching the library of tailored PILs of enhanced conductivity, a critical parameter determining their serviceability.

The impact of the chain length or dispersity of polymers in controlling the crystallization of amorphous active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) has been discussed for a long time. However, because of the weak control of these parameters in the majority of macromolecules used in pharmaceutical formulations, the abovementioned topic is poorly understood. Herein, four acetylated oligosaccharides, maltose (acMAL), raffinose (acRAF), stachyose (acSTA), and α-cyclodextrin (ac-α-CD) of growing chain lengths and different topologies (linear vs cyclic), mimicking the growing backbone of the polymer, were selected to probe the influence of these structural factors on the crystallization of naproxen (NAP)an API that does not vitrify regardless of the cooling rate applied in our experiment. It was found that in equimolar systems composed of NAP and linear acetylated oligosaccharides, the progress and activation barrier for crystallization are dependent on the molecular weight of the excipient despite the fact that results of Fourier transform infrared studies indicated that there is no difference in the interaction pattern between measured samples. On the other hand, complementary dielectric, calorimetric, and X-ray diffraction data clearly demonstrated that NAP mixed with ac-α-CD (cyclic saccharide) does not tend to crystallize even in the system with a much higher content of APIs. To explain this interesting finding, we have carried out further density functional theory computations, which revealed that incorporation of NAP into the cavity of ac- α-CD is hardly possible because this state is of much higher energy (up to 80 kJ/mol) with respect to the one where the API is located outside of the saccharide torus. Hence, although at the moment, it is very difficult to explain the much stronger impact of the cyclic saccharide on the suppression of crystallization and enhanced stability of NAP with respect to the linear carbohydrates, our studies clearly showed that the chain length and the topology of the excipient play a significant role in controlling the crystallization of this API.

We investigated the influence of anion type (salicylate, [(MOB)MIm][Sal], vs chloride, [(MOB)MIm][Cl]) of imidazolium-based ionic liquid (IL) and its content on the curing kinetics of bisphenol A diglicydyl ether (DGEBA of molecular weight Mn = 340 g/mol). Further physicochemical properties (i.e., glass transition temperature, Tg, and conductivity, σdc) of produced polymers were investigated. The polymerization of the studied systems was examined at various molar ratios (1:1, 10:1, and 20:1) at different reaction temperatures (Treaction = 353–383 K) by using differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). Interestingly, both DGEBA/IL compositions studied herein revealed significantly different reaction kinetics and yielded materials of completely distinct physical properties. Surprisingly, in contrast to [(MOB)MIm][Cl], for the low concentration of [(MOB)MIm][Sal] in the reaction mixture, an additional step in the kinetic curves, likely due to the combined enhanced initiation activity of anion (salicylate)–cation (imidazolium-based), was noted. To thoroughly analyze the kinetics of all studied systems, including the two-step kinetics of DGEBA/[(MOB)MIm][Sal], we applied a new approach that relies on the combination of the two phenomenological Avrami equations. Analysis of the determined constant rates revealed that the reaction occurring in the presence of the salicylate anion is characterized by higher activation energy with respect to those with the chloride. Moreover, DGEBA/[(MOB)MIm][Sal] cured materials have higher Tg in comparison to DGEBA polymerized with [(MOB)MIm][Cl] independent of the IL concentration. This fact might indicate that, most likely, the products of hardening are highly cross-linked (high Tg) or oligomeric linear polymers (low Tg) in the former and latter cases, respectively. Such a change in the chemical structure of the polymer is also reflected in the dc conductivity measured at the glass transition temperature, which is much higher for DGEBA cured with [(MOB)MIm][Cl]. Herein, we have clearly demonstrated that the type of anion has a crucial impact on the polymerization mechanism, kinetics, and properties of produced materials.

Herein we show that the nanostructured interface obtained via modulation of the pore size has a strong impact on the segmental and chain dynamics of two poly(propylene glycol) (PPG) derivatives with various molecular weights (Mn = 4000 g/mol and Mn = 2000 g/mol). In fact, a significant acceleration of the dynamics was observed for PPG infiltrated into ordinary alumina templates (Dp = 36 nm), while bulklike behavior was found for samples incorporated into membranes of modulated diameter (19 nm < Dp < 28 nm). We demostrated that the modulation-induced roughness reduces surface interactions of polymer chains near the interface with respect to the ones adsorbed to the ordinary nanochannels. Interestingly, this effect is noted despite the enhanced wettability of PPG in the latter system. Consequently, as a result of weaker H-bonding surface interactions, the conformation of segments seems to locally mimic the bulk arrangement, leading to bulklike dynamics, highlighting the crucial impact of the interface on the overall behavior of confined materials.

We study the molecular origin of a prepeak (PP) observed at low q values in the structure factors of three oligomers in a bulk (poly(mercaptopropyl)methylsiloxane, PMMS, poly(methylmercaptopropyl)- grafted-hexylmethacrylate, PMMS-g-HMA, and poly(methylphenyl)siloxane, PMPS) in order to understand the lowering of the PP intensity detected for oligomers confined in cylindrical pores with low diameter. For this purpose, we use a combination of X-ray diffraction measurements and coarsegrained bead-spring molecular dynamics simulations. Our molecular modelling demonstrated that the planarity of the pendant groups triggers the self-association of oligomers into nanoaggregates. However, the formation of oligomeric nanodomains is not sufficient for building-up the PP. The latter requires spatial disturbance in the arrangement of the side groups of oligomers within clusters. Importantly, our numerical analysis revealed that the increasing degree of the confinement of oligomers limits their aggregation and consequently lowers the amplitude of the PP observed in the experimental data.

The nature of hydrogen bond (HB) interactions is still far from being understood despite intense experimental and theoretical studies on this subject carried out by the leading research centers. In this paper, by a combination of unique high-pressure infrared, dielectric and volumetric data, the intramolecular dynamics of hydroxyl moieties (which provides direct information about Hbonds) was studied along various isolines, i.e., isotherms, isobars, isochrones, and isochores, in a simple monohydroxy alcohol (2-ethyl-1-hexanol). This allowed us to discover that the temperature controls the intermolecular hydrogen bonds, which then affect the intramolecular dynamics of O-H units. Although the role of density fluctuations gets stronger as temperature rises. We also demonstrated a clear connection between the intra- and intermolecular dynamics of the associating liquid at high pressure. The data reported herein open a new perspective to explore this important aspect of the glass transition phenomenon and understand H-bonding interactions at varying thermodynamic conditions.

In this work, we examined the effect of the length of alkyl chain attached to the benzene ring on the self-assembling phenomena for a series of phenyl alcohol (PhA) derivatives, from phenylmethanol (benzyl alcohol) to 7-phenyl-1-heptanol, by means of X-Ray Diffraction (XRD), Differential Scanning Calorimetry (DSC), Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, and Broadband Dielectric Spectroscopy (BDS) methods. XRD data in the reciprocal and real spaces showed a gradual increase in the local order with the elongation of the alkyl chain. However, the position and full width at half maximum of the main diffraction peak exhibited a non-systematic behavior. To better understand this fact, PhAs were subjected to FTIR spectroscopic studies. These investigations revealed that the association degree and the activation energy of dissociation increase as the alkyl chain length grows. On the other hand, BDS data showed a non-monotonic variation in the Kirkwood correlation factor with increasing length of the alkyl chain, indicating a competition between interactions of the non-polar and polar parts of the molecules in the studied PhAs. Finally, it was also found that the molar surface entropy for PhAs increases with the number of methylene groups, approaching values reported for alkanes, which indicates suppression of the surface order for PhAs with a long alkyl chain. This variability of the various parameters as a function of the length of the side chain shows that the interplay between soft interactions has a strong impact on the local structure and intra and intermolecular dynamics of the studied PhAs.

In this paper, broadband dielectric spectroscopy (BDS) has been applied to study the molecular dynamics and crystallization kinetics of the antihyperlipidemic active pharmaceutical ingredient (API), gemfibrozil (GEM), as well as its deuterated (dGEM) and methylated (metGEM) derivatives, characterized by different types and strengths of intermolecular interactions. Moreover, calorimetric and infrared measurements have been carried out to characterize the thermal properties of examined samples and to probe a change in the H-bonding pattern in GEM, respectively. We found that the dielectric spectra of all examined compounds, collected below the glass transition temperature (Tg), reveal the presence of two secondary relaxations (β, γ). According to the coupling model (CM) predictions, it was assumed that the slower process (β) is of JG type, whereas the faster one (γ) has an intramolecular origin. Interestingly, the extensive crystallization kinetics measurements performed after applying two paths, i.e., the standard procedure (cooling and subsequently heating up to the appropriate temperature, Tc), as well as annealing at two temperatures in the vicinity of Tg and further heating up to Tc, showed that the annealing increases the crystallization rate in the case of native API, while the thermal history of the sample has no significant impact on the pace of this process in the two derivatives of GEM. Analysis of the dielectric strength (Δe) of the α-process during annealing, together with the results of Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) measurements, suggested that the reorganization within dimeric structures formed between the GEM molecules is responsible for the observed behavior. Importantly, our results differ from those obtained by Tominaka et al. (Tominaka, S.; Kawakami, K.; Fukushima, M.; Miyazaki, A.Physical Stabilization of Pharmaceutical Glasses Based on Hydrogen Bond Reorganization under Sub-Tg Temperature Mol. Pharm. 2017 14 264 273 10.1021/acs.molpharmaceut.6b00866.), who demonstrated that the sub-Tg annealing of ritonavir (RTV), which is able to form extensive supramolecular hydrogen bonds, protects this active substance against crystallization. Therefore, based on these contradictory reports, one can hypothesize that materials forming H-bonded structures, characterized by varying architecture, may behave differently after annealing in the vicinity of the glass transition temperature.

In this paper, we have analyzed structural, thermal, and dynamical properties of four azole antifungals: itraconazole (ITZ), posaconazole (POS), terconazole (TER) and ketoconazole (KET), differing mainly in the length of the rod-like backbone and slightly in side groups. Our investigations clearly demonstrated that the changes in the chemical structure result in a different ability to form the medium-range order (MRO) and variation in thermal and dynamical properties of these pharmaceuticals. Direct comparison of the diffractograms collected for glassy and crystalline materials indicated that the MRO observed in the former phases is related to maintaining the local molecular arrangement of the crystal structure. Moreover, it was shown that once the MRO-related diffraction peaks appear, additional mobility (δ- or α' relaxation), slower than the structural (α)-process, is also detected in dielectric spectra. This new mode is connected to the motions within supramolecular nanoaggregates. Detailed analysis of dielectric and calorimetric data also revealed that the variation in the internal structure and MRO of the examined pharmaceuticals have an impact on the glass transition temperature (Tg) shape of the α-process, isobaric fragility, molecular dynamics in the glassy state and number of dynamically correlated molecules. These findings could be helpful in an understanding the influence of different types of intermolecular MRO on the properties of substances having a similar chemical backbone.

In this paper, we report comprehensive studies on the molecular dynamics of a series of poly(propylene glycol) (PPG) derivatives characterized by three different terminal groups and various molecul...

Different experimental techniques were applied to study thermal and structural properties, strength of H-bonds, possible keto-enol tautomerism and molecular dynamics at various thermodynamic conditions in the H-bonded active substance, curcumin (CRM). Dielectric measurements revealed dynamical features of examined compound that are uncharacteristic for the associated systems. This includes enormously large pressure coefficient of the glass transition temperature and prominent drop of the fragility with compression. Simultaneously, the shape of α-process slightly broadened at elevated pressures. Infrared investigations demonstrated that this effect is related to the variation in the population of H-bonds. Moreover, we studied the changes in the structural and dynamical properties of the glasses prepared upon cooling of the melt (ordinary glass, OG) and the one obtained after compression of CRM in the liquid phase and decompression at T = 293 K (dense glass, DG). Interestingly, during the aging of the latter sample, a clear shift of the β-relaxation towards higher frequencies was noted. This unexpected result indicated that the density of DG is probably getting smaller with time. Complementary X-ray diffraction experiments confirmed this supposition. Additionally, they showed that in DG there are traces of polymorph II of CRM that has a higher density than initial crystals (polymorph I). Finally, infrared studies demonstrated that H-bond pattern in DG is slightly different with respect to OG. Furthermore, Raman investigations suggested that probably keto-enol tautomerism might be shifted towards diketo form in the glass obtained at high compression. Our investigations are very interesting in the context of better understanding of the behavior of associated systems at high compression as well as provide a better insight into dynamics of higher density glasses produced at elevated pressures.

In this paper, we explored the influence of both the variation in the molecular weight (Mn = ∼400, 2000, 4000 g/mol) and the terminal groups (hydroxyl, amino, and methoxy) on the molecular dynamics of poly(propylene glycols) confined within anodic aluminum oxide membranes of different pore diameters. All confined samples revealed the presence of two glass transition temperatures related to the vitrification of two, core and interfacial, fractions of polymers. As found, the glass transition temperature of PPG adsorbed on the pore walls increases with a decrease in polymer Mn and scales with the H-bonding ability of a given material. Surprisingly, the glass transition temperature of the core macromolecules decreases with respect to the bulk sample with increasing Mn. To gain insight into the observed quite unexpected anti-correlated behavior of both Tg values, we performed the additional contact angle and surface tension measurements together with the annealing experiments. As shown, there were no differenc...

In this paper, the high-pressure calorimetry was used to monitor the heat of the polymerization of bisphenol-A diglycidyl ether (DGEBA) mixed with a stoichiometric amount of aniline over a wide range of pressure (p = 0.1–350 MPa at T = 298.15 K). To the best of our knowledge, this is the first high-pressure calorimetric study of the reaction kinetics of the epoxy resin curing processes. The collected novel experimental data were analysed with two models: the original Kamal and its modified version taking into account the real monomer conversion, which provides insight into the progress of two subsequent non-catalyzed and catalyzed reactions occurring during the step growth polymerization. It was found that the determined rate constants are sensitive to pressure and model dependent, resulting in different activation volumes, which fall within the range from −16 cm3/mol to −26 cm3/mol. Interestingly, these values are similar to those reported for the epoxide ring-opening polymerization reaction, which changes in the range between −15 cm3/mol to −20 cm3/mol. In addition, the analysis of the high-pressure data revealed that the original Kamal model fails to describe kinetic curves obtained for the polymerization reaction, where the monomer conversion is far below 100%. Interestingly, such effects are considered to be due to the change in the mechanism of the reaction from mass to the diffusion-controlled regime. Here, we explicitly have shown that it has nothing to do with this phenomenon since after considering solely the real monomer conversion in the Kamal model fits, quality has been significantly improved. As a consequence, estimated rate constants are more reliable. Results presented herein clearly indicated that high-pressure experiments provide a new perspective to understand the progress of the classical reactions, as step-growth polymerization that has mainly been studied as a function of the chemical composition and temperature.

Modified oligosaccharides with cyclic topology seem to be promising excipients for the preparation of Amorphous Solid Dispersions (ASDs), especially with those Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients (APIs), which have a strong crystallization tendency from the amorphous/glassy state. Herein, the usefulness of two acetylated cyclodextrins (ac-α-CD and ac-β-CD) with various molecular weights (M

Herein, we examined the effect of finite size and wettability on the structural dynamics and the molecular arrangement of the propylene carbonate derivative, (S)-(-)-4-methoxymethyl-1,3-dioxolan-2-one (assigned as s-methoxy-PC), incorporated into alumina and silica porous templates of pore diameters d = 4 nm-10 nm using Raman and broadband dielectric spectroscopy, differential scanning calorimetry, and x-ray diffraction. It was demonstrated that only subtle changes in the molecular organization and short-range order of confined s-methoxy-PC molecules were detected. Yet, a significant deviation of the structural dynamics and depression of the glass transition temperatures, Tg, was found for all confined samples with respect to the bulk material. Interestingly, these changes correlate with neither the finite size effects nor the interfacial energy but seem to vary with wettability, generally. Nevertheless, for s-methoxy-PC infiltrated into native (more hydrophilic) and modified (more hydrophobic) silica templates of the same nanochannel size (d = 4 nm), a change in the dynamics and Tg was negligible despite a significant variation in wettability. These results indicated that although wettability might be a suitable variable to predict alteration of the structural dynamics and depression of the glass transition temperature, other factors, i.e., surface roughness and the density packing, might also have a strong contribution to the observed confinement effects.

The behavior of the low- and high-molecular weight glass formers confined in nanoporous templates remains an unsolved puzzle despite the intensive long-term studies in this matter. Special effort is taken to understand the enhancement of segmental or structural dynamics and the depression of the glass-transition temperatures, Tgs in materials infiltrated in pores of the nanometric size. In this paper, we have analyzed dielectric, calorimetric, and contact angle data collected for various systems to determine which factors are responsible for these effects. It turned out that with increasing interfacial energy, molecules attached to the pore walls (interfacial layer) vitrify at higher temperatures. Moreover, the dynamics of core molecules starts to deviate from bulk-like behavior. Therefore, a greater depression of the glass-transition temperature, Tg, of this fraction of molecules is noted. Also, it was found that the sensitivity of structural dynamics to the density fluctuations, quantified by the pressu...

In this paper, the molecular dynamics and thermal properties of representative acetylated linear and cyclic oligosaccharides: acTRE, acRAF, acSTA, ac-α-CD, ac-β-CD, ac-γ-CD, have been investigated by using broadband dielectric spectroscopy and differential scanning calorimetry. We found that there are marked differences in the dynamics of the structural and secondary relaxation processes in both groups of materials. Just to mention a variation in the distribution of the structural relaxation times as well as different evolutions of the glass transition temperature (Tg) and fragility (m) versus molecular weight (Mw), which seem to be affected by the shape of the molecule, strain in the carbohydrate ring and mobility of side acetyl moieties.

Broadband dielectric spectroscopy (BDS) has been used to study the molecular dynamics and aging process in neat probucol (PRO) as well as its binary mixtures with selected acetylated saccharides. In particular, we applied the Casalini and Roland approach to determine structural relaxation times in the glassy state of the examined systems (so-called isostructural times, τiso). Next, using the calculated τiso, primitive relaxation times of the coupling model were obtained and compared to the experimental secondary β (Johari-Goldstein (JG) type) relaxation times. Interestingly, it turned out that there is a correlation between the β-JG and the structural (α)-relaxation processes below the glass transition temperature (T < Tg) in each investigated sample. This is a new observation compared to previous studies demonstrating that such a relationship exists only in the supercooled liquid state of neat PRO. Moreover, it was revealed that the stretching parameters obtained from the aging procedure are very close to the ones determined by fitting the dielectric data above the Tg with the use of the Kohlrausch-Williams-Watts function, indicating that the aging process is governed by the α-relaxation. Complementary Fourier transform infrared and X-ray diffraction measurements allowed us to find a possible reason for these findings. It was demonstrated that although there are very weak intermolecular interactions between PRO and modified saccharides, the intra- and intermolecular structure of PRO is practically unaffected by the presence of modified saccharides.

Herein, we report the pioneering high-pressure dielectric studies on the dynamics of a model van der Waals glass-forming liquid bisphenol-A diglycidyl ether (DGEBA) infiltrated into anodic aluminum oxide (AAO) templates of the mean pore sizes, d = 150 and d = 18 nm. It was found that although the shape of the structural relaxation process varies with the confinement, it remains constant under varying thermodynamic conditions for a given pore diameter. Consequently, the time–temperature–pressure (TTP) rule satisfied for the majority of bulk substances is also obeyed for the spatially restricted liquid. We have also shown for the first time that there is a decoupling between the core and interfacial mobility at elevated pressure. Moreover, it was noted that the structural dynamics of the former fraction of molecules becomes systematically shorter with respect to the bulk DGEBA during the compression. The enhanced structural dynamics of the core material, as well as the varying pressure coefficients of the glass transition temperature of the interfacial and core molecules, have been discussed in the context of a distinct evolution in their free volume/density packing with respect to the bulk DGEBA, and a change in the interfacial tension, which may lead to the enhanced wettability of the liquid adsorbed onto the pore walls under different thermodynamic conditions. The performed high-pressure measurements offer novel perspectives to explore the combination of two different effects, compression and confinement, which might be a breakthrough in the study of the glass transition phenomenon and the behavior of soft materials confined at the nanoscale.

Herein, we tested the validity of the thermodynamic scaling of two (α and δ) relaxation processes observed in the isotropic and nematic phases of itraconazole, that is classified as a liquid crysta...

In this paper, the crystal growth of three active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs), griseofulvin, nifedipine, and naproxen, from the single component systems and the solid dispersions composed of APIs and acetylated maltose, has been investigated in a wide temperature range using optical microscopy. Additionally, complementary calorimetric and dielectric measurements have been carried out to characterize thermal properties and molecular dynamics of prepared samples. We found that close to the glass transition temperature (Tg), there is a sharp change in the T-dependence of the crystal growth rates (μcg) of APIs in four studied systems. Consequently, the activation barrier for the crystal growth (Ecg) calculated above and below this temperature differs significantly, indicating a change in the kinetics of this stage of crystallization. Furthermore, it was demonstrated that at T ≈ 1.25–1.3Tg, which may correspond to the crossover temperature (TB) related to the variation in molecular dynamics, a maximum in...

In this paper, we have investigated the molecular dynamics above and below the glass-transition temperature of bisphenol-A diglycidyl ether (known as DGEBA, Mn = 340 g/mol) infiltrated in nanoporous alumina (AAO) templates of various pore sizes by means of dielectric and Raman spectroscopies. It was found that the temperature dependence of the structural relaxation times is different under confinement with respect to the bulk sample even in the high-temperature regime. Interestingly, below the glass-transition temperature, the slow secondary process (β) was not detected in dielectric loss spectra of confined DGEBA, while the relaxation times of the faster secondary process (γ) were unaffected by the pore size. To explain this phenomenon, two different scenarios, considering either suppression of the motions related to this mobility or enhancement of its dynamics, were taken into account. Additional annealing experiments, which lead to density perturbation, enabled us to recover bulk-like temperature depen...

In this article, thermal properties, molecular dynamics, crystallization kinetics, and intermolecular interactions in pure naproxen (NAP), its amide (NH2–NAP), and four esters (methyl, Met-NAP; iso...

The effect of the chemical modification of poly(propylene glycol) (PPG) end groups on the molecular dynamics under 2D confinement and the polymer/matrix interactions (including interfacial energies) was investigated by a combination of differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), broadband dielectric spectroscopy (BDS), surface tension and contact angle measurements. The replacement of −OH groups in native PPG allowed to modify the interactions with the hydroxyl groups attached to the pore walls of nanoporous aluminum oxide (AAO) membranes of various pore diameter. It was found that the observed reduction in the glass transition temperature (Tg) of the core polymers correlates well with a general trend (the higher the solid–liquid interfacial tension, γSL, the lower Tg,confined) reported earlier. Moreover, we demonstrated that although the interfacial solid–liquid energy seems to be almost the same for each studied herein material, a clear change in the crossover temperature (Tc), related to the vitrification...

Efficient ROP polymerization of e-caprolactone, resulting in products characterized by high molecular weight of low dispersities, remains a challenging task and is currently an important matter of ongoing research, mostly due to the accompanying side reactions, i.e., hydrolysis and transesterification. Herein, we studied in detail the impact of 2D hard confinement on the progress and product of ring-opening polymerization (ROP) of e-caprolactone with and without water acting as initiator in comparison to the macroscale conditions, where various forms (powder, sheet) of alumina were used. It turned out that applied aluminum oxide nanotemplates act as both catalyst and initiator (INICAT) of ROP nanopolymerization and seem to operate accordingly to the pseudoliving coordination–insertion mechanism, resulting in nanowires of PCL characterized by Mn up to 53.5 kg/mol. Additionally, due to the applied confinement, the side reactions were successfully suppressed, resulting in macromolecules of moderate molecular...

The synthesis of poly(ionic liquid)s (PILs), a new class of polymers with numerous possible applications and tailored thermorheological properties, is quite a challenging task. To achieve that goal, different strategies have been proposed and developed. However, in the majority of cases macromolecules with relatively low molecular weights and high dispersities were produced, probably due to the strong intermolecular coulombic interactions that determine the behavior of monomeric ionic liquids. In this paper, we proposed a completely new approach that relies on the pressure-induced reversible addition fragmentation chain transfer polymerization (RAFT) to produce PILs of desired properties. For this purpose, a series of model imidazolium-based ionic monomers, with different lengths of aliphatic side chains as additional steric hindrances, have been successfully polymerized under high pressure (p = 250, 500 and 800 MPa). In contrast to results obtained at ambient pressure, all monomers yielded high molecular weight polymers (degrees of polymerization DPn ≤ 10 000) with narrow dispersities (Ð∼1.10). From the kinetic data obtained at various thermodynamic conditions, the rate of polymerization, Rp, and overall activation volumes, ΔV, were estimated, which in the limit of low pressures varied as follows −16.7, −18.1, −32.6 and −35.6 cm mol−1 for [MVIM][NTf2], [EVIM][NTf2], [BVIM][NTf2] and [OVIM][NTf2], respectively. An unexpected significant jump in ΔV can be correlated with the nanostructure organization that, accordingly to the literature, starts to dominate in the latter two monomers. It was also demonstrated that below p = 500 MPa, the termination reaction is almost completely suppressed, independently on the sample. On the other hand, above that pressure both the polymerization rate and the control over the reaction decreased due to the high viscosity preventing diffusion of the monomers. Moreover, taking advantage of the high pressure polymerization, we had a unique opportunity of exploring and better understanding a correlation among molecular weight, Mn, the glass transition temperature, Tg, and the dc conductivity, σdc, for a very wide range of Mn (up to 430 kg/mol) polymers of various backbone rigidity. We observed that the evolution of Tg with Mn follows a typical Fox-Flory relation. Nevertheless, Tg decreases with an increase in the size of the monomer. Additionally, a similar chemical structure dependence was observed for the dc conductivity, which seems to strongly depend on the rigidity of the produced polymers. It can be seen that the higher rigidity of the polymer (longer alkyl chain of side group), the higher σdc. We believe the results reported herein offer an easy alternative way to synthesis of well-defined polyelectrolytes of moderate/high conductivity in shorter reaction times, and expand our knowledge of their properties and the correlations among them.

Intra- and intermolecular studies on the molten L-sorbose have been carried out at variable temperature conditions to determine the crosover temperature (T c ). In addition, isothermal time-dependent FTIR and Raman measurements were performed to probe the pace of mutarotation and activation energy of this reaction in the studied saccharide, which varied from 53–62 kJ/mol up to 177–192 kJ/mol below and above T c , respectively. To explain the change in activation barrier for the mutarotation a complementary analysis using difference FTIR spectra collected around T c = 365 K in the hydroxyl region has been done. It was found that the alteration of kinetic parameters and molecular dynamics around T c are strictly related to the variation in the strength of H-bonds which above T c are significantly weaken, increasing the freedom of rotation of functional groups and movement of individual molecules. That phenomenon most likely affects the proton transfer, underlying molecular mechanism of mutarotation, which may lead to the significant increase in activation barrier. The new insight into a molecular aspect of the mutarotation around T c has created an opportunity to better understanding the relationship between physics of condensed matter and the potential role of H-bonds dynamics on the progress of the chemical reaction in highly viscous systems.

Here, we have studied the effect of spatial restrictions on the molecular dynamics and crystallization behavior of modeled lipophilic drug fenofibrate incorporated into nanoporous aluminum oxide membranes of different pore size. Our measurements demonstrate that, on subsequent cooling, dynamics of confined liquid split up into two distinct fractions, due to the presence of core and interfacial layers. At the temperature, at which vitrification of the interfacial layer takes place (Tg_interface), departure from the bulk-like behavior occurs, and molecules in the center of the pores enter quasi-isochoric conditions. Depending on the thermal protocol and pore size, the volume fixed at Tg_interface might be a bit different so as the core liquid’s dynamics. Interestingly, below that temperature, the nanoconfined liquid can still obey the fundamental density scaling relation (1/TVγ), just like in the bulk phase, while not necessarily isochronal superposition. This is in contrast to a common observation that the...

Broadband dielectric and Raman spectroscopies combined with calorimetric measurements and DFT calculations have been used to investigate the molecular dynamics of the benzyl derivative of ibuprofen (Ben-IBU) incorporated into aluminum oxide (AAO) templates of various pore diameters (d = 20 nm and d = 80 nm). Time-dependent experiments on the material confined in pores of d = 20 nm revealed the occurrence of a low activation barrier kinetic process, that was manifested as a variation in the integral intensities of some characteristic vibrations of carboxylic and benzene moieties as well as a shift of the structural relaxation process. Complementary DFT computations enabled us to identify its molecular nature as originating from cis to trans like conformational change. Our results clearly show that molecular rearrangements enforced by the interactions with the pore walls/substrate may affect the properties of the confined systems. Consequently, these effects must be taken into account to understand the dynamics and variation of the glass transition temperature in high (polymers) and low molecular weight glass formers subjected to spatial restrictions at the nanometer scale.

In this paper, we report 1,5,7-Triazabicyclo[4.4.0]dec-5-ene (TBD) supported high-pressure approach enforcing Ring-Opening Polymerization (ROP) of γ-butyrolactone (GBL), that due to unfavorable thermodynamics and low ring strain, is considered as a hardly polymerizable monomer. Application of Broadband Dielectric Spectroscopy (BDS) allowed us to find optimal thermodynamic conditions to perform well-controlled and notably fast polymerization (even within 1 h!), avoiding undesired crystallization process. It was shown that by varying pressure and temperature conditions, we could control molecular weight, dispersity of recovered macromolecules, as well as rate and efficiency of the reaction that are significantly altered with respect to the reference process carried out at ambient conditions. Experiments performed at respectively very low temperature T = 233 K and low/moderate pressure (p = 75–250 MPa) and much higher temperatures (T = 248–268 K) and compressions (p = 1000 MPa) yielded poly(γ-butyrolactone) (PGBL) of tailored absolute molecular weight in moderate range Mn = 2.8–15.0 (up to 30.3) kg/mol and narrow/moderate dispersity ranging from Đ = 1.12–1.89. What is more, the implementation of MALDI-TOF, GPC and DSC analyses, clearly indicated that as i) the time of reaction gets longer, ii) the amount of catalyst increases, iii) the temperature lowers, the content of cyclic products in produced polymers grows. This phenomenon influences the rheological properties (viscosity), foil formation ability (films) and cell culture proliferation features of the recovered macromolecules. Presented results open a highly effective and repeatable route to produce PGBL via pressure-assisted ROP and indicate the possibility of tuning properties of this polymer by varying concentration of cycles or eventual block copolymerization with other biorelevant monomers to meet the expectations of the biotechnological industry.

The effect of nanoscale confinement on the formation of glacial phase in triphenyl phosphite (TPP), usually assigned to liquid–liquid transition (LLT), was investigated by a combination of differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), broadband dielectric (BDS) and Raman spectroscopies. Although the application of micronscale confinement revealed the presence of prominent LLT [Kurita, R.; Tanaka, H. Phys. Rev. Lett. 2007, 98, 235701]; surprisingly, under the nanolevel geometrical restriction there is no evidence of its existence. Interestingly, at the temperature corresponding to the LLT phenomena, the nanoconfined TPP undergoes crystallization of the suppressed nucleation step. Our data indicates that most likely the formation of the so-called glacial phase is a result of the crystallites formed within the liquid matrix, where the noncrystallized molecules adjacent to their surface form the interfacial layer of slowed down molecular dynamics.

The annealing behavior of poly(propylene glycol) (PPG, Mw = 4000 g/mol) incorporated into the nanoporous aluminum oxide (AAO) membranes of different pore diameter was investigated by broadband dielectric spectroscopy (BDS) and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). The presence of two subsets of molecules of different dynamics (interfacial and core) allows to produce conditions, where only one fraction (interfacial) is vitrified. Upon these conditions, annealed samples undergo continuous changes reflected in a shift of dielectric processes (segmental and normal mode). This unusual behavior was observed to be a reversible effect strictly governed by chain diffusion, indicated by the coupling between the equilibration constant (τanneal) and the relaxation times of normal mode (τNM). Despite the similarity in macroscopic changes observed upon the annealing of 2D and 1D materials [Napolitano, S.; Nat. Commun. 2011, 2, 260], the examined behavior occurs accordingly to a totally different mechanism than the o...