Saurabh Chitnis
@sschitnis.bsky.social
Synthetic chemist and PI for the Chitnis lab at the University of Victoria & Dalhousie University in Canada.
#maingroup #inorganic #polymers #materials #coordinationchemistry #chemsky
https://chitnislab.ca/
https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9180-7907
#maingroup #inorganic #polymers #materials #coordinationchemistry #chemsky
https://chitnislab.ca/
https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9180-7907
We're keeping away from ionic liquid since the product is a polymer with many electron-rich sites that might bind strongly to these. But then again PPh4+ is pretty weakly coordinating, so might be ok!
November 19, 2025 at 5:49 PM
We're keeping away from ionic liquid since the product is a polymer with many electron-rich sites that might bind strongly to these. But then again PPh4+ is pretty weakly coordinating, so might be ok!
great idea - will check this out
November 19, 2025 at 5:49 PM
great idea - will check this out
Thanks for the suggestion. I should have clarified - it's a polymerization forming a viscous melt needing mechanical stirring or rotation - magnetic stirring is too weak. The other challenge is that unless heating is uniform (eg sealed tube in oven), monomer sublimes to the cold part of the vessel.
November 19, 2025 at 5:48 PM
Thanks for the suggestion. I should have clarified - it's a polymerization forming a viscous melt needing mechanical stirring or rotation - magnetic stirring is too weak. The other challenge is that unless heating is uniform (eg sealed tube in oven), monomer sublimes to the cold part of the vessel.
Sulfolane is a bit difficult to dry and reaction is moisture sensitive - we're going to try heavy duty silicone oil and anthracene...thanks!
November 19, 2025 at 5:42 PM
Sulfolane is a bit difficult to dry and reaction is moisture sensitive - we're going to try heavy duty silicone oil and anthracene...thanks!
We're rolling with silicone oil... Fingers crossed! Thanks for the suggestion.
I'm too afraid to take dmso over 100C so will skip that one.
I'm too afraid to take dmso over 100C so will skip that one.
November 19, 2025 at 1:35 AM
We're rolling with silicone oil... Fingers crossed! Thanks for the suggestion.
I'm too afraid to take dmso over 100C so will skip that one.
I'm too afraid to take dmso over 100C so will skip that one.
Excellent suggestion (and super easy to test) - bonus for being a hydrophobic molecule as this is a moisture sensitive reaction!
November 18, 2025 at 8:29 PM
Excellent suggestion (and super easy to test) - bonus for being a hydrophobic molecule as this is a moisture sensitive reaction!
Our desired product is a polymer...as long as TOPO is more soluble in some hydrocarbon solvent, we can use the lower solubility of the polymer to separate by precipitation...so might work after all!
November 18, 2025 at 6:02 PM
Our desired product is a polymer...as long as TOPO is more soluble in some hydrocarbon solvent, we can use the lower solubility of the polymer to separate by precipitation...so might work after all!
great resource - thanks!
November 18, 2025 at 6:00 PM
great resource - thanks!
We're doing something similar currently: sealed glass tube rotated in oven for mixing the viscous polymer melt. We could do it in a metal autoclave instead but magnetic stirring won't cut it due to viscosity. But perhaps if we dilute it, magnetic stirring in autoclave could work. Thanks!
November 18, 2025 at 5:53 PM
We're doing something similar currently: sealed glass tube rotated in oven for mixing the viscous polymer melt. We could do it in a metal autoclave instead but magnetic stirring won't cut it due to viscosity. But perhaps if we dilute it, magnetic stirring in autoclave could work. Thanks!
Pyrene might work! Great idea!
November 18, 2025 at 5:51 PM
Pyrene might work! Great idea!
Thanks Fran - silicones would be better in this case as the reaction is moisture sensitive. But good point about PPGs that will solve problems in a different reaction!
November 18, 2025 at 5:50 PM
Thanks Fran - silicones would be better in this case as the reaction is moisture sensitive. But good point about PPGs that will solve problems in a different reaction!
Good point. We're doing something similar currently: sealed glass tube that is slowly rotated for mixing the viscous polymer melt. We could do it in an autoclave instead but magnetic stirring won't cut it due to viscocity. But perhaps if we make it more dilute it could be done in autoclave. Thanks!
November 18, 2025 at 5:48 PM
Good point. We're doing something similar currently: sealed glass tube that is slowly rotated for mixing the viscous polymer melt. We could do it in an autoclave instead but magnetic stirring won't cut it due to viscocity. But perhaps if we make it more dilute it could be done in autoclave. Thanks!
I will add that ionic liquids or molten salts are not ideal since the product (a very electron-rich polymer) will likely bind irreversibly to the cations.
Ideally, we would remove the solvent by washing it away with hydrocarbons/diethyl ether.
Ideally, we would remove the solvent by washing it away with hydrocarbons/diethyl ether.
November 18, 2025 at 5:32 PM
I will add that ionic liquids or molten salts are not ideal since the product (a very electron-rich polymer) will likely bind irreversibly to the cations.
Ideally, we would remove the solvent by washing it away with hydrocarbons/diethyl ether.
Ideally, we would remove the solvent by washing it away with hydrocarbons/diethyl ether.
Thanks - this is a great idea and one to try for sure! It will also be good for the work-up where we need the solvent to be soluble in hydrocarbons! We will precipitate the polymerization reaction into something like hexane or diethyl ether to crash out our polymer.
November 18, 2025 at 5:30 PM
Thanks - this is a great idea and one to try for sure! It will also be good for the work-up where we need the solvent to be soluble in hydrocarbons! We will precipitate the polymerization reaction into something like hexane or diethyl ether to crash out our polymer.
Unfortunately can't use anything ionic as the product (an electron-rich polymer) will bind irreversibly to it...
November 18, 2025 at 5:29 PM
Unfortunately can't use anything ionic as the product (an electron-rich polymer) will bind irreversibly to it...
Thanks Josh! These compounds have many more surprises in store!
November 18, 2025 at 3:28 PM
Thanks Josh! These compounds have many more surprises in store!