Tirazine based microporous polymeric (TMP) network was found to be an efficient metal-free catalyst for the epoxidation of styrene. The reactions were performed in water as an environmentally benign medium using H2O2 as a green oxidant at ambient temperature. The reaction afforded higher yield with 90% conversion of styrene and 98% selectivity to styrene oxide in 6 h. The triazine based micropo...

Epidemiologic studies have consistently reported increased daily mortality and hospital admissions for ischemic heart disease related to daily changes in ambient particulate levels. One theory is that substances adhering to particulates might have a cardiovascular effect. Styrene has been found in very low doses in air and has chemical characteristics that would cause adherence to particles. In...

Oxygenases form an interesting class of biocatalysts, as they typically perform oxygenations with exquisite chemo-, regio-, and/or enantioselectivity. It has been observed that, once heterologously expressed in Escherichia coli, some oxygenases are able to form the blue pigment indigo. We have exploited this characteristic to screen a metagenomic library derived from loam soil and identified a ...

In this study, a triblock copolymer, poly(styrene-isobutylene-styrene), was sulfonated to eight different levels ranging from 0.36 to 2.04 mequiv./g (13 to 82 mol% of styrene; styrene is 19 mol% of the unsulfonated block copolymer). These sulfonated polymers were characterized with elemental analysis and infrared spectroscopy to confirm sulfonation and determine accurate sulfonation levels. Inf...

Biofiltration of air containing styrene vapor was investigated using a three-stage bench scale biofilter. The biofilter was packed with yard waste compost using hard plastics as a bulking agent in a 75:25 v/v mix of plastics: compost. The feed concentration was made by bubbling air through a styrene stock solution. The system was inoculated with thickened activated sludge and the effects of loa...

Biological Monitoring of Styrene in FRPMaking Small Industries in Kumamoto, Japan— Winter-Summer Difference and Effect of Protective Masks in Practical Working Conditions—: Tsukasa INAOKA, et al. Department of Public Health, Kumamoto University School of Medicine— Objective: Studies were carried out in Kumamoto, Japan to examine 1) the winter-summer differences in the average individual exposur...

The chromosomal region of Pseudomonas sp. strain Y2 involved in the conversion of styrene to phenylacetate (upper catabolic pathway) has been cloned and sequenced. Four catabolic genes, styABCD, and two regulatory genes, stySR, were identified. This gene cluster when transferred to Escherichia coli W confers to this phenylacetate-degrading host the ability to grow on styrene as the sole carbon ...

This review summarizes recent results for ethylene/styrene copolymerization using half-titanocenes containing anionic donor ligands, Cp’TiX2(Y) (X = halogen, alkyl; Y = aryloxo, ketimide etc.)–cocatalyst systems. The product composition, the styrene incorporation and microstructures in the resultant copolymers are highly influenced by the anionic donor employed. A methodology for an exclusive s...

A cohort of 34,560 men and 6128 women employed in 660 European factories manufacturing reinforced plastic products, followed up originally to assess the risk of cancer, was used to assess the risk of non-malignant respiratory diseases associated with exposure to styrene. Mortality from pneumonia was associated with intensity of exposure to styrene, but this may have been due to chance. Mortalit...