In a series ofpreIiminary studies of urea-formaldehyde reactions, the influence of the U:F molar ratio, the temperature and the catalyst were investigated. Subsequently, in a more rigorous evaluation of the influence of four variables on urea-formaldehyde resin formation, viz., U:F molar ratio, pH, temperature and reaction time, a set of twenty reactions were performed using a statistical approach. The results indicate that high resin viscosity is best achieved by using a high U:F molar ratio (1:2) and conducting the reaction at 90°C. Several basic components produced in urea-formaldehyde reactions have been synthesised, characterised by NMR spectroscopy, silylated using bis(trimethylsilyl)trifluoroacetamide and analysed by low resolution mass spectrometry. The use oftriazones as cross-linking agents has been investigated, and a series of 5-substituted triazones have been prepared and their mass fragmentation patterns explored using a combination of low and high resolution mass spectrometry. In order to facilitate interpretation of ¹³C NMR data obtained for U-F resins, internal rotation in various urea derivatives was investigated using variable temperature ¹H and ¹³C NMR spectroscopic study. Signal splittings observed below 247 K have been rationalised in terms of various rotameric structures.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:netd.ac.za/oai:union.ndltd.org:rhodes/vital:4383 |
| Date | January 1998 |
| Creators | Nocanda, Xolani Wittleton |
| Publisher | Rhodes University, Faculty of Science, Chemistry |
| Source Sets | South African National ETD Portal |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis, Masters, MSc |
| Format | 152 p., pdf |
| Rights | Nocanda, Xolani Wittleton |
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