Disclosed is a method for synthesizing dihydroxyl-terminated polyphenylene oxide oligomer. The method for synthesizing dihydroxyl-terminated polyphenylene oxide oligomer, comprising oxidatively copolymerizing monohydric phenol and dihydric phenol in the presence of a metal-polyethyleneimine complex as a catalyst, to obtain the dihydroxyl-terminated polyphenylene oxide oligomer. The synthesizing method of the present disclosure uses a metal-polyethyleneimine complex as a catalyst, which has a milder catalytic activity, can effectively promote the reaction between the dihydric phenol and the monohydric phenol, increases the hydroxyl content of the product, meanwhile reduces the amount of the residual dihydric phenol monomer in the product, so that the quality of the product can be improved. The dihydroxyl-terminated polyphenylene oxide oligomer prepared can be used as additive and copolymerization block in other thermoplastic plastics, thermoplastic elastomers and thermosetting materials, thereby improving the performances of the material, such as thermal performance, adhesion, mechanical property, chemical resistance, and electrical property.

The invention concerns a method for manufacturing of an electrocatalyst comprising a porous carbon support material, a catalytic material in the form of at least one type of metal, and macrocyclic compounds chemically bound to the carbon support and capable of forming complexes with single metal ions of said metal or metals, said method comprising the steps of: i) providing a template capable of acting as pore structure directing agent during formation of a highly porous electrically conducting templated carbon substrate, ii) mixing the template with one or several precursor substances of the catalytic material, the macrocyclic compounds and carbon, iii) exposing the mixture of the template and the precursor substances to a carbonization process during which the precursors react and transform the mixture into a carbonized template composite in winch the carbon part of the composite is chemically bound to macrocyclic compounds present in complexes with the metal or metals. The invention also concerns an electrocatalyst for electrochemical reactions, a method for manufacturing of a membrane electrode assembly using such an electrocatalyst and to a fuel cell making use of such an electrocatalyst.

The present invention provides PC.sub.NHCP pincer metal complexes, which are useful as catalysts in various chemical reactions such as hydrogen isotope exchange (HIE) in C(sp.sup.3)-H and/or C(sp.sup.2)-H bond of an organic compound, e.g., a pharmaceutically active compound; hydroboration of alkynes with excellent selectivity; and alkene isomerization with high stereo- and regioselectivity.

An oxidative homocoupling method of synthesizing certain 2,2′-bithiophenes from thiophenes using oxygen as the terminal oxidant is disclosed. In non-limiting examples, the method uses oxygen along with a catalytic system that includes palladium, an assistive ligand, and a non-palladium metal additive to catalyze one of the following reactions: ##STR00001## Associated catalytic systems and compositions are also disclosed.

The present invention provides a catalyst which has oxygen reduction catalytic ability surpassing that of a platinum-carrying carbon material. This catalyst comprises a carbon material and a metal complex represented by formula (1). ##STR00001## In formula (1), X.sup.1 to X.sup.8 each independently represent a hydrogen atom or a halogen atom, D.sup.1 to D.sup.4 each represent a nitrogen atom or a carbon atom wherein the carbon atom has bound thereto a hydrogen atom or a halogen atom, and M represents a metallic atom.

A membrane includes a first layer, and a second layer coupled to the first layer. The second layer includes a network of catalytic sites, each catalytic site having a catalytic center characterized by promoting a chemical reaction of a target material. A method of forming a chemically reactive membrane includes applying a first solution to a structure, the first solution includes a macrocyclic ligand having electron-donating ligands and a side functional group for crosslinking, crosslinking a plurality of the macrocyclic ligand to form a first network of crosslinked macrocyclic ligands, and applying a second solution to the structure, the second solution comprising a catalytic center. Each catalytic center complexes with the electron-donating ligands of each macrocyclic ligand to form catalytic sites in the first network of crosslinked macrocyclic ligands.

Supported catalysts include a solid support, a metal-ligand complex tethered to a surface of the solid support through at least two surface reactive moieties of the metal-ligand complex, and a conformationally stable molecular pore defined between the metal-ligand complex and the surface of the solid support. The metal-ligand complex includes a catalytic metal center, such as a transition metal, coordinated with multiple monodentate ligands, a multidentate ligand, or a combination thereof. The ligands include a tethering portion that is terminated by a surface reactive moiety tethered to the surface of the solid support by a surface interaction. By tailoring the tethering portion, a volume of the molecular pore may be provided that is selective and suitable for a chosen reactant or a chosen reaction type.

The invention relates to compounds of formula (I)

##STR00001##

where R.sup.1, R.sup.2, R.sup.3, R.sup.4 are each independently selected from —(C.sub.1-C.sub.12)-alkyl, —(C.sub.3-C.sub.12)-cycloalkyl, —(C.sub.3-C.sub.12)-heterocycloalkyl, —(C.sub.6-C.sub.20)-aryl, —(C.sub.3-C.sub.20)-heteroaryl; at least one of the R.sup.1, R.sup.2, R.sup.3, R.sup.4 radicals is a —(C.sub.3-C.sub.20)-heteroaryl radical; and R.sup.1, R.sup.2, R.sup.3, R.sup.4, if they are —(C.sub.1-C.sub.12)-alkyl, —(C.sub.3-C.sub.12)-cycloalkyl, —(C.sub.3-C.sub.12)-heterocycloalkyl, —(C.sub.6-C.sub.20)-aryl or —(C.sub.3-C.sub.20)-heteroaryl, may each independently be substituted by one or more substituents selected from —(C.sub.1-C.sub.12)-alkyl, —(C.sub.3-C.sub.12)-cycloalkyl, —(C.sub.3-C.sub.12)-heterocycloalkyl, —O—(C.sub.1-C.sub.12)-alkyl, —O—(C.sub.1-C.sub.12)-alkyl-(C.sub.6-C.sub.20)-aryl, —O—(C.sub.3-C.sub.12)-cycloalkyl, —S—(C.sub.1-C.sub.12)-alkyl, —S—(C.sub.3-C.sub.12)-cycloalkyl, —COO—(C.sub.1-C.sub.12)-alkyl, —COO—(C.sub.3-C.sub.12)-cycloalkyl, —CONH—(C.sub.1-C.sub.12)-alkyl, —CONH—(C.sub.3-C.sub.12)-cycloalkyl, —CO—(C.sub.1-C.sub.12)-alkyl, —CO—(C.sub.3-C.sub.12)-cycloalkyl, —N—[(C.sub.1-C.sub.12)-alkyl].sub.2, —(C.sub.6-C.sub.20)-aryl, —(C.sub.6-C.sub.20)-aryl-(C.sub.1-C.sub.12)-alkyl, —(C.sub.6-C.sub.20)-aryl-O—(C.sub.1-C.sub.12)-alkyl, —(C.sub.3-C.sub.20)-heteroaryl, —(C.sub.3-C.sub.20)-heteroaryl-(C.sub.1-C.sub.12)-alkyl, —(C.sub.3-C.sub.20)-heteroaryl-O—(C.sub.1-C.sub.12)-alkyl, —COOH, —OH, —SO.sub.3H, —NH.sub.2, halogen; and to the use thereof as ligands in alkoxycarbonylation.

Provided are industrial processes for producing an organic acid alky ester from a feedstock containing organic acids and/or saponifiables, comprising: countercurrently contacting a feedstock with an organic alkylating reagent over two or more vessels or stages at temperature between 100° C. and 400° C. and pressure between barg and 355 barg while simultaneously removing water and/or glycerin with unreacted alkylating reagent from the final vessel or stage to result in a first reaction method product containing organic acid alkyl esters, followed by a choice of using the alkyl esters as-is, purifying the organic acid alkyl esters from the first reaction product mixture or subjecting the first reaction product mixture to an additional transesterification reaction to convert saponifiables into additional organic acid alkyl esters, then purifying the organic acid alkyl esters from this second reaction method product.

The present invention relates to a nanomaterial comprising a nanoclay having a layered structure and carbon nanotubes being intercalated between layers of the layered of the nanoclay, and manufacturing method thereof.