Glycosaminoglycans (GAGs), a large family of complex, unbranched polysaccharides, display a variety of essential physiological functions. The structural complexity of GAGs greatly impedes their availability, thus making it difficult to understand the biological roles of GAGs and structure-property relationships. A method that can access GAGs and their analogs with defined structure at relatively large scales will facilitate our understandings of GAG biological roles and biosynthesis modulation. Cellulose is an abundant and renewable natural polymer. Applications of cellulose and cellulose derivatives have drawn increasing attention in recent decades. Chemical modification is an efficient method to append new functionalities to the cellulose backbones. This dissertation describes chemical modification of cellulose and cellulose derivatives to prepare unsulfated and sulfated GAG analogs. Through these studies, we have also discovered novel chemical reactions to modify cellulose. Systematic study of these novel chemistries is also included in this dissertation. We first demonstrated our preparation of two unsulfated GAG analogs by chemical modification of a commercially available cellulose ester. Cellulose acetate was first brominated, followed by azide displacement to introduce azides as the GAG amine precursors. The resulting 6-N3 cellulose acetate was then saponified to liberate 6-OH groups, followed by subsequent (2,2,6,6-tetramethylpiperidin-1-yl)oxyl (TEMPO) oxidation of the liberated primary hydroxyl groups to carboxyl groups. Finally, the azides were reduced to amines using a novel reducing reagent, dithiothreitol (DTT). Alternatively, another process utilized thioacetic acid to reduce azides to a mixture of amine and acetamido groups. Through pursuing these GAG analogs, we applied novel azide reductions by DTT and thioacetic acid that are new to polysaccharide chemistry. We systematically investigated the scope of DTT and thioacetic acid azide reduction chemistry under different conditions, substrates, and functional group tolerance. Selective chlorination is another interesting reaction we discovered in functionalization of cellulose esters. We applied this chlorination reaction to hydroxyethyl cellulose (HEC). We then utilized the chlorinated HEC as a substrate for displacement reactions with different types of model nucleophiles to demonstrate the scope of its utility. Overall, we have designed a novel synthetic route to two unsulfated GAG analogs by chemical modification of cellulose acetate. Through exploration of GAG analogs synthesis, we discovered novel methods to modify polysaccharide and polysaccharide derivatives, including azide reduction chemistry and selective chlorination reactions. Successful synthesis of various types of GAG analogs will have great potential biomedical applications and facilitate structure-activity relationship studies. / Doctor of Philosophy / Polysaccharides are long chains of natural sugars. Glycosaminoglycans (GAGs) are an important class of polysaccharides which have complicated chemical structures and play critical roles in many biological processes, including regulation of cell growth, promotion of cell adhesion, anticoagulation, and wound repair. Current methods to obtain these GAGs and GAG analogs are expensive, lengthy, and limited in capability. Novel methods to access these GAGs and their analogs would be promising and would facilitate understanding of biological activities of GAGs. Cellulose is an abundant polymer on earth and provides structural reinforcement in plant cell walls. Cellulose can be further chemically modified to tailor its physiochemical properties. Cellulose and cellulose derivatives have been widely used in many industries for various applications, such as textiles, plastic films, automotive coatings, and drug formulation. This dissertation focuses on modifying inexpensive, abundant cellulose and its derivatives to GAGs and GAG analogs. We start from the simple plant polysaccharide cellulose and obtain structurally complicated analogs of animal-sourced GAGs and GAG analogs. We reached our goal by designing a carefully crafted synthetic route, finally successfully obtaining two types of novel GAG analogs. During this process, we discovered two useful chemical reactions. We systematically investigated these chemical reactions and demonstrated their utility for polysaccharide chemical modification. These successful chemical syntheses of GAGs and their analogs will accelerate our understanding of their natural functions and have potential biomedical applications. The novel chemical methods we discovered will be helpful in chemical modification of polysaccharides.

Microporous organic polymers (MOPs) are porous materials. Owing to their high surface area, tunable pore sizes and high physicochemical stability, they are studied for applications including gas capture and separation and heterogeneous catalysis. In this thesis, a series of imine/azo-linked MOPs were synthesized. The MOPs were examined as potential CO2 sorbents and as supports for heterogeneous catalysis. The MOPs were synthesized by Schiff base polycondensations and oxidative couplings. The porosities of the imine-linked MOPs were tunable and affected by a range of factors, such as the synthesis conditions, monomer lengths, monomer ratios. All the MOPs had ultramicropores and displayed relatively high CO2 uptakes and CO2-over-N2 selectivities at the CO2 concentrations relevant for post-combustion capture of CO2. Moreover, the ketimine-linked MOPs were moderately hydrophobic, which might increase their efficiency for CO2 capture and separation. The diverse synthesis routes and rich functionalities of MOPs allowed further post-modification to improve their performance in CO2 capture. A micro-/mesoporous polymer PP1-2, rich in aldehyde end groups, was post-synthetically modified by the alkyl amine tris(2-aminoethyl)amine (tren). The tethered amine moieties induced chemisorption of CO2 on the polymer, which was confirmed by the study of in situ infrared (IR) and solid-state 13C nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy. As a result, the modified polymer PP1-2-tren had a large CO2 capacity and very high CO2-over-N2 selectivity at low partial pressures of CO2. Pd(II) species were incorporated in the selected MOPs by means of complexation or chemical bonding with the imine or azo groups. The Pd(II)-rich MOPs were tested as heterogeneous catalysts for various organic reactions. The porous Pd(II)-polyimine (Pd2+/PP-1) was an excellent co-catalyst in combination with chiral amine for cooperatively catalyzed and enantioselective cascade reactions. In addition, the cyclopalladated azo-linked MOP (Pd(II)/PP-2) catalyzed Suzuki and Heck coupling reactions highly efficiently. / <p>At the time of the doctoral defense, the following papers were unpublished and had a status as follows: Paper 4: Accepted. Paper 7: Manuscript.</p>

Electrospun, non-woven, fibers have high surface area compared to conventional cast films. The thesis reports on the modification of electrospun fibers to concentrate and/or detect biohazards. In one study, electrospun fibers with affinity for the lectins ricin/concanavalin A were fabricated using molecular imprinting or through binding to immobilized antibodies, aptamers or lectin specific sugars. Attempts to fabricate imprinted electrospun fibers through inclusion of the template during the spinning process proved unsuccessful. However, electrospun fibers with affinity towards biohazards were successfully produced by post-modification with antibodies, aptamers or lectin specific saccharides. With regards to the latter, dextran, mannose and chitosan were immobilized onto nylon electrospun fibers that were partially hydrolyzed or treated with cyanuric chloride. The sugar-modified fibers bound significantly higher amount of lectins. Electrospun fibers were also fabricated, post modified with antibodies to capture and detect Salmonella. The study has illustrated the utility of electrospun fibers for biohazard diagnostics. / The National Center for Food Protection and Defense. USA

京都大学 / 0048 / 新制・課程博士 / 博士(工学) / 甲第22847号 / 工博第4787号 / 新制||工||1749(附属図書館) / 京都大学大学院工学研究科高分子化学専攻 / (主査)教授 山子 茂, 教授 田中 一生, 教授 辻井 敬亘 / 学位規則第4条第1項該当 / Doctor of Philosophy (Engineering) / Kyoto University / DGAM

As an extension of the previous work on the post-modification strategy of pyridine-based PN3P group 10 metal complexes, the triazine-based PN3P pincer ligands incorporating nickel complexes, Me-Et-PN3PNiCl, and Me-Et-PN3PNiI, were synthesized and characterized. The solid state structures suggest that the N-donor atom of triazine-based PN3P ligands have more electron donating than the pyridine-based PNP pincer ligands. A new non-symmetric PONNP pincer ligand system was developed to: (1) give more parameters for electronic and steric properties (2) to block the influence of acidic proton. However, the unstable metal-hydride complexes indicate the degradable O–P bond or N–P bond of the PONNP ligand. Treating the three ligands, including tert-butyl, phenyl, and cyclopentyl substituents with NiCl2(DME) individually all resulted in the production of [(PtBuONNPtBu)NiCl]+Cl-. It suggests that both O‒P and N‒P can cleave and rearrange during the complexation. The solvent effect and time tracing experiments demonstrated that the O‒P and N‒P bond rearrangement occurs after forming the nickel complex. The finding of [(ONNPtBu)NiCl]22+(Cl-)2 indicates the weakness of the O‒P bond, suggesting the degradation of an oxygen-phosphorus bond may be the initial step of substituents rearrangement. To ensure the ligand-centered reactivity of (PtBuONNPtBu)*NiCl, a nickel-silver bimetallic complex, [(PtBuONNPtBu)*NiCl]2[AgOTf]2, was produced. In contrast to pyridine-based PN3P*NiH, there are two active sites of [(PtBuONNPtBu)*NiCl]2[AgOTf]2, the N atoms on the imine arm and pyrimidine ring. The solid-structure of the acid-base adduct compound, {[(PtBuONNPtBu)*NiCl][B(C6F5)3], demonstrates that the nitrogen atom on the pyrimidine ring is a better active site than the imine arm because of the steric effect. The molecular structures of [(PtBuONNPtBu)*NiCl]2[AgOTf]2 and {[(PtBuONNPtBu)*NiCl][B(C6F5)3] exhibit that the pyrimidine ring of [(PtBuONNPtBu)*NiCl]2[AgOTf]2 tends to be an aromatic zwitterionic form. The ligand backbone of {[(PtBuONNPtBu)*NiCl][B(C6F5)3] favors the dearomatized form.

La fonctionnalisation post-polymérisation ou post-fonctionnalisation est une technique qui permet d’apporter des propriétés spécifiques à des polymères dont les caractéristiques intrinsèques sont limitées pour une application donnée. Parmi les différentes stratégies de post-fonctionnalisation, une des plus courantes est le greffage radicalaire en milieu fondu par extrusion réactive (T > 160 °C). Dans ce type de procédé, un précurseur de radicaux appelé agent de greffage est utilisé afin de greffer des unités fonctionnelles sur les chaines de polymère. A ce jour, ce sont les radicaux à base de peroxydes qui sont employés. Cependant, ces derniers engendrent souvent des réactions de réticulation de chaines qui réduisent l’efficacité du processus. Afin de surmonter ces inconvénients, il est alors important de développer de nouvelles structures pertinentes. Dans ce contexte, les travaux de recherche que nous avons entrepris dans cette thèse concernent la conception et l’étude de nouveaux agents de greffage dérivés d’acétoxyphtalimide (NAPI) pour la post-fonctionnalisation de polymères. Afin d’atteindre ces objectifs, notre démarche a été basée sur une approche multidisciplinaire comportant une étude théorique par modélisation moléculaire et une approche expérimentale incluant la synthèse et l’étude de réactivité des nouvelles structures. Par la suite, des essais de post-fonctionnalisation de polyéthylène, de polyamide ainsi que de poly(acide lactique) par ces nouveaux agents de greffage ont été réalisés. Ces essais ont montré des résultats prometteurs à l’utilisation de ces nouveaux composés par rapport aux peroxydes dans les systèmes d’extrusion. / Post-functionalization is a technique which allows to introduce specific properties to polymers whose intrinsic characteristics are limited for a defined application. It has become an appropriate tool to answer the strong demand for performance materials that is constantly growing. Among the post-functionalization methods, one of the most exploited is the radical grafting of the polymers in the molten state by reactive extrusion (T> 160 ° C). In this type of process, a radical precursor called grafting agent is used to graft functional units (monomers) onto the polymer backbone. In this context, the conventional grafting agents used in extrusion are peroxides. However, the radicals generated by peroxide compounds often lead to side reactions, particularly crosslinking reactions of the polymer chains which limit the efficiency of the process. Thus, finding a new family of grafting agents remains a challenge to optimize these extrusion systems. In this research work, the main objective is to use new grafting agents based on acetoxyphthalimide (NAPI) for extrusion. To reach this goal, our strategy is based on a multidisciplinary approach which presents a theoretical study by chemical modeling and an experimental approach by the synthesis and the reactivity study of the targeted structures. To validate the concept, polyethylene, polyamide and polylactic acid post-functionalization tests through these new grafting agents have been carried out. The results obtained have shown that these NAPI derivatives are efficient to graft monomers and to reduce the crosslinking reaction compared to peroxide agents.

Zeolites are crystalline aluminosilicates with diverse structures and uniform porosities. They are widely used as catalysts, adsorbents and ion-exchangers in industry. Direct or post modifications optimize the performance of zeolites for different applications. In this thesis, IZM-2 and TON-type zeolites were synthesized, modified and studied. In addition, FAU-type zeolite and silicoaluminophosphate (SAPO) molecular sieves were applied as templates for the preparation of microporous carbons. In the first part of this thesis, the IZM-2 zeolite with an unknown structure was synthesized. We focused on the increasing the secondary porosity and the varied framework compositions upon post modifications. The structure determination of this IZM-2 zeolite was hindered by the small size of crystals. In the second part of this thesis, the synthesis composition was directly modified in order to increase the crystal sizes. IZM-2 crystals were enlarged by excluding the aluminium atoms from the framework. The micropores of the obtained pure-silica polymorphs were activated by ion-exchanging alkali-metal ions with protons. Typically, TON-type zeolites that are synthesized at hydrothermal conditions under stirring have needle-shaped crystals. In the third part of this thesis, snowflake-shaped aggregates were produced by using static hydrothermal conditions for the synthesis of TON-type zeolites. The effects of synthesis parameters on the growth and morphology of crystals were discussed in detail. In the last part of this thesis, microporous carbons with a structural regularity were prepared by chemical vapour deposition (CVD) of propylene using a silicoaluminophosphate (SAPO-37) template. Compared to the conventional zeolite templates, the SAPO template could be removed under mild conditions, without using hydrofluoric acid, and the generated carbons had a large specific surface area and a high fraction of ultrasmall micropores. / <p>At the time of the doctoral defense, the following papers were unpublished and had a status as follows: Paper 3: Manuscript. Paper 4: Manuscript.</p>