Disclosed herein are processes of making furan-based polyamides using solvent-free melt condensation of a diamine and an ester derivative of 2,5-furandicarboxylic acid with a C.sub.2 to C.sub.12 aliphatic diol or a polyol. The processes comprise a) forming a reaction mixture by mixing one or more diamines, a diester comprising an ester derivative of 2,5-furandicarboxylic acid with a C.sub.2 to C.sub.12 aliphatic diol or a polyol, and a catalyst, such that the diamine is present in an excess amount of at least 1 mol % with respect to the diester amount; and b) melt polycondensing the reaction mixture in the absence of a solvent at a temperature in the range of 60° C. to a maximum temperature of 250° C. under an inert atmosphere, while removing alkyl alcohol to form a furan-based polyamide, wherein the one or more diamines comprises an aliphatic diamine, an aromatic diamine, or an alkylaromatic diamine.

The present invention provides a curing catalyst for an organic polymer or an organopolysiloxane, which has a high safety and a practical curing speed, and improves the adhesion of a cured product to a substrate, and can be produced at low cost. An aspect of the present invention provides a curing catalyst [B] for an organic polymer or an organopolysiloxane, which is used for curing an organic polymer [A1] or an organopolysiloxane [A2] having a reactive hydrolyzable silicon-containing group, wherein the catalyst [B] contains a titanium compound [B1] represented by the following formula and a secondary amine compound or a tertiary amine compound [B2].
(R.sup.1—O).sub.nTi-A.sub.4-n
(In the formula, R.sup.1 is a hydrocarbon group having 1 to 10 carbon atoms, and A is a carboxylic acid residue, and n is 1 or 2.)

The invention relates to a method for producing at least one metal amino alcoholate, at least comprising the following steps (A) providing at least one amino alcohol, (B) adding at least one basic compound to the at least one amino alcohol provided in step (A) in order to obtain at least one corresponding amino alcoholate, and (C) adding at least one metal halogenide to the mixture obtained in step (C) in order to obtain a corresponding metal amino alcoholate, wherein in step (C) the at least one metal halogenide is added as a solution in a protic solvent at a concentration of 2.0 to 35.0 wt. %; a solution containing at least one metal alcoholate obtained in this manner; the use of the solution to produce a composition; a corresponding composition; the use of said composition to produce single- or multi-layer paint structures; a method for single- or multi-layer coating of a substrate with a paint structure; and a substrate coated in this manner.

The invention concerns a process for the preparation of a catalyst for carrying out hydrogenation reactions in hydrotreatment and hydrocracking processes. Said catalyst is prepared from at least one mononuclear precursor based on molybdenum (Mo), in its monomeric or dimeric form, having at least one Mo═O or Mo—OR bond or at least one Mo═S or Mo—SR bond where [R=C.sub.xH.sub.y where x≧1 and (x−1)≦y≦(2x+1) or R=Si(OR′).sub.3 or R=Si(R′).sub.3 where R′=C.sub.x′H.sub.y′ where x′≧1 and (x′−1)≦y′≦(2x′+1)], and optionally from at least one promoter element from group VIII. Said precursors are deposited onto an oxide support which is suitable for the process in which it is used, said catalyst being dried at a temperature of less than 200° C. then advantageously being sulphurized before being deployed in said process.

A method consisting in depositing coating of a semiconductor such as TiO.sub.2 on the surface of a substrate of activated carbon in the form of grain or powder that acts by an advanced oxidation-reduction mechanism in environmental decontamination processes, by way of a heterogeneous electrocatalysis system applying an electrical potential having a magnitude equal to or greater than that of the bandgap energy of the semiconductor, which is 3.2 eV in the case of anatase TiO.sub.2, such that an electron rises from the valence band to the conduction band, leaving in its place holes, h+, with enough oxidative capacity to be able to oxidise H.sub.2O and form OH radicals.

Catalyst complexes include a zinc hexacyanocobaltate with M.sup.5 metal and M.sup.6 metal or semi-metal phases, wherein M.sup.5 metal is gallium, hafnium, manganese, titanium and/or indium and the M.sup.6 metal or semi-metal is one or more of aluminum, magnesium, manganese, scandium, molybdenum, cobalt, tungsten, iron, vanadium, tin, titanium, silicon and zinc and is different from the M.sup.5 metal. The catalysts are highly efficient propylene oxide polymerization catalysts characterized by rapid activation, short times to the onset of rapid polymerization and high polymerization rates once rapid polymerization has begun.

The subject invention discloses an improved method for making pre-hydrophobated precipitated silica from rice hull ash silica. This process is renewable, highly efficient, and incorporates virtually all of the silica coupling agent used in making the pre-hydrophobated precipitated silica into the final product. The subject invention more specifically reveals a method for making pre-hydrophobated precipitated silica comprising: (1) dispersing silica into water under conditions of agitation to made an aqueous silica slurry; (2) adding a phase transfer agent to the aqueous silica slurry; (3) adding a silica coupling agent to the aqueous silica slurry; (4) maintaining the aqueous slurry at a temperature of at least 20° C. for a time which is sufficient for the silica coupling agent to react with the silica to produce the pre-hydrophobated precipitated silica; and (5) recovering the pre-hydrophobated precipitated silica from the aqueous silica slurry.

Provided is a method for preparing a solution B comprising at least one catalyst in at least one second solvent, comprising at least the following steps of (A) providing a solution A comprising the at least one catalyst in at least one first solvent, (B) treating the solution A from step (A) with activated carbon, (C) removing the activated carbon from the solution A, and (D) exchanging the at least one first solvent in solution A for at least one second solvent in order to obtain the solution B comprising the at least one catalyst in at least one second solvent, to a solution of at least one catalyst in at least one second solvent, obtainable by the method according to the invention, to the use of this solution for preparing a composition comprising the at least one catalyst, the at least one second solvent, at least one polyisocyanate and at least one NCO-reactive compound, to the use of this composition for producing a single-layered or multi-layered coating system and a corresponding process.

A catalyst composition capable of forming a conjugated diene-based polymer having a narrow molecular weight distribution by being used in polymerization of a conjugated diene-based monomer, a method of preparing the same, a method of preparing a conjugated diene-based polymer using the catalyst composition, and a conjugated diene-based polymer prepared by the method of preparing the polymer are provided. Since the catalyst composition according to the present invention includes a polymer having a number-average molecular weight of 3,000 g/mol to 10,000 g/mol and including a conjugated diene-based monomer-derived unit, the catalyst composition may be used in the polymerization of a conjugated diene-based monomer to prepare a conjugated diene-based polymer having a narrower molecular weight distribution in comparison to a conventional neodymium catalyst composition.

Catalyst complexes include a zinc hexacyanocobaltate with M.sup.5 metal and M.sup.6 metal or semi-metal phases, wherein M.sup.5 metal is gallium, hafnium, manganese, titanium and/or indium and the M.sup.6 metal or semi-metal is one or more of aluminum, magnesium, manganese, scandium, molybdenum, cobalt, tungsten, iron, vanadium, tin, titanium, silicon and zinc and is different from the M.sup.5 metal. The catalysts are highly efficient propylene oxide polymerization catalysts characterized by rapid activation, short times to the onset of rapid polymerization and high polymerization rates once rapid polymerization has begun.