{"id":{"repo_id":"uiuc","oai_identifier":"oai:www.ideals.illinois.edu:2142/89272"},"canonical_url":"https://search.dev.ndltd.org/etd/uiuc/oai:www.ideals.illinois.edu:2142/89272","repository":{"repo_id":"uiuc","name":"University of Illinois - Urbana-Champaign","base_url":"https://www.ideals.illinois.edu/oai-pmh"},"display":{"title":"Touch-and-go chemistry: development of materials for and demonstration of a contact-initiated polymerization","abstract":"My graduate research has focused on demonstrating the concept of a contact-initiated, or touch-and-go, reaction. One of the foundational concepts of organic chemistry is that an intermolecular reaction can only occur once two or more reactive molecules come into proximity in the correct orientation. Enzymatic reactions display improved reaction rates because catalytic groups are prearranged in proximity to the substrate. It follows that one can control a reaction rate by controlling the spatial proximity of two reactive groups. To demonstrate this concept, I developed a series of particle sizes that could be functionalized with reactive groups. These particles varied in size from 50 nm to 360 µm in diameter. Particles were then functionalized with N,N-dimethylaniline (DMA) and benzoyl peroxide (BPO) groups which co-initiate free radical polymerizations. The mechanism by which they co-initiate requires contact between the DMA and BPO molecules. When DMA and BPO were conjugated to complementary particles, a free radical polymerization was observed following contact between the particles. However, when the particles were physically separated, no reaction was observed. These experiments demonstrated touch-and-go chemistry, a reaction that could be controlled by controlling contact between two macroscopic objects.","abstract_html":"My graduate research has focused on demonstrating the concept of a contact-initiated, or touch-and-go, reaction. One of the foundational concepts of organic chemistry is that an intermolecular reaction can only occur once two or more reactive molecules come into proximity in the correct orientation. Enzymatic reactions display improved reaction rates because catalytic groups are prearranged in proximity to the substrate. It follows that one can control a reaction rate by controlling the spatial proximity of two reactive groups. To demonstrate this concept, I developed a series of particle sizes that could be functionalized with reactive groups. These particles varied in size from 50 nm to 360 µm in diameter. Particles were then functionalized with N,N-dimethylaniline (DMA) and benzoyl peroxide (BPO) groups which co-initiate free radical polymerizations. The mechanism by which they co-initiate requires contact between the DMA and BPO molecules. When DMA and BPO were conjugated to complementary particles, a free radical polymerization was observed following contact between the particles. However, when the particles were physically separated, no reaction was observed. These experiments demonstrated touch-and-go chemistry, a reaction that could be controlled by controlling contact between two macroscopic objects.","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Sekerak, Nina M"],"institution":"University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign","degree_name":"Ph.D.","degree_level":"Dissertation","degree_discipline":"Chemistry","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["Moore, Jeffrey S","Silverman, Scott K","Mitchell, Douglas A","Braun, Paul V"],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2016,"date_issued":"2016-03-08T17:21:40Z","date_published":"2016-03-08T17:21:40Z","updated_at":"2026-07-22T22:26:32Z","subjects":["Touch-and-go chemistry","emulsion polymerization","dispersion polymerization","suspension polymerization","carboxypolystyrene","unsymmetrical peroxide","benzoyl peroxide","dimethylaniline"],"languages":["en"],"rights":["Copyright 2015 Nina Marie Sekerak"],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"http://hdl.handle.net/2142/89272","outbound_label":"Handle","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor","label":"Contributor","values":["Moore, Jeffrey S","Silverman, Scott K","Mitchell, Douglas A","Braun, Paul V"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Sekerak, Nina M"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date","label":"Dc Date","values":["2016-03-08T17:21:40Z","2018-03-09T10:15:15Z","2015-09-10","2015-12"]},{"key":"dc:type","label":"Dc Type","values":["text"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["Chemistry"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Dissertation"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Ph.D."]},{"key":"thesis:institution_name","label":"Thesis Institution Name","values":["University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["Touch-and-go chemistry","emulsion polymerization","dispersion polymerization","suspension polymerization","carboxypolystyrene","unsymmetrical peroxide","benzoyl peroxide","dimethylaniline"]}]},{"id":"language_rights","label":"Language and Rights","entries":[{"key":"dc:language","label":"Dc Language","values":["en"]},{"key":"dc:rights","label":"Dc Rights","values":["Copyright 2015 Nina Marie Sekerak"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["http://hdl.handle.net/2142/89272"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description","label":"Description","values":["My graduate research has focused on demonstrating the concept of a contact-initiated, or touch-and-go, reaction. One of the foundational concepts of organic chemistry is that an intermolecular reaction can only occur once two or more reactive molecules come into proximity in the correct orientation. Enzymatic reactions display improved reaction rates because catalytic groups are prearranged in proximity to the substrate. It follows that one can control a reaction rate by controlling the spatial proximity of two reactive groups. To demonstrate this concept, I developed a series of particle sizes that could be functionalized with reactive groups. These particles varied in size from 50 nm to 360 µm in diameter. Particles were then functionalized with N,N-dimethylaniline (DMA) and benzoyl peroxide (BPO) groups which co-initiate free radical polymerizations. The mechanism by which they co-initiate requires contact between the DMA and BPO molecules. When DMA and BPO were conjugated to complementary particles, a free radical polymerization was observed following contact between the particles. However, when the particles were physically separated, no reaction was observed. These experiments demonstrated touch-and-go chemistry, a reaction that could be controlled by controlling contact between two macroscopic objects.","Submission published under a 24 month embargo labeled 'U of I Access', the embargo will last until 2017-12-01","The student, Nina Sekerak, accepted the attached license on 2015-09-03 at 20:15.","The student, Nina Sekerak, submitted this Dissertation for approval on 2015-09-03 at 20:28.","This Dissertation was approved for publication on 2015-09-10 at 15:51.","DSpace SAF Submission Ingestion Package generated from Vireo submission #8681 on 2016-03-08 at 11:05:05","Made available in DSpace on 2016-03-08T17:21:40Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 2 SEKERAK-DISSERTATION-2015.pdf: 2522025 bytes, checksum: 16b0b06c28ebbfb925b69af57c9a4d9a (MD5) LICENSE.txt: 4209 bytes, checksum: 6b74d3ce6693beb010366bcf45d9d2ae (MD5) Previous issue date: 2015-09-10","Embargo set by: Seth Robbins for item 91483 Lift date: 2018-03-08T17:22:13Z Reason: Author requested U of Illinois access only (OA after 2yrs) in Vireo ETD system","U of I Only Restriction Lifted for Item 91483 on 2018-03-09T10:15:15Z."]},{"key":"dc:format","label":"Dc Format","values":["application/pdf"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["Touch-and-go chemistry: development of materials for and demonstration of a contact-initiated polymerization"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor":["Moore, Jeffrey S","Silverman, Scott K","Mitchell, Douglas A","Braun, Paul V"],"dc:creator":["Sekerak, Nina M"],"dc:date":["2016-03-08T17:21:40Z","2018-03-09T10:15:15Z","2015-09-10","2015-12"],"dc:description":["My graduate research has focused on demonstrating the concept of a contact-initiated, or touch-and-go, reaction. One of the foundational concepts of organic chemistry is that an intermolecular reaction can only occur once two or more reactive molecules come into proximity in the correct orientation. Enzymatic reactions display improved reaction rates because catalytic groups are prearranged in proximity to the substrate. It follows that one can control a reaction rate by controlling the spatial proximity of two reactive groups. To demonstrate this concept, I developed a series of particle sizes that could be functionalized with reactive groups. These particles varied in size from 50 nm to 360 µm in diameter. Particles were then functionalized with N,N-dimethylaniline (DMA) and benzoyl peroxide (BPO) groups which co-initiate free radical polymerizations. The mechanism by which they co-initiate requires contact between the DMA and BPO molecules. When DMA and BPO were conjugated to complementary particles, a free radical polymerization was observed following contact between the particles. However, when the particles were physically separated, no reaction was observed. These experiments demonstrated touch-and-go chemistry, a reaction that could be controlled by controlling contact between two macroscopic objects.","Submission published under a 24 month embargo labeled 'U of I Access', the embargo will last until 2017-12-01","The student, Nina Sekerak, accepted the attached license on 2015-09-03 at 20:15.","The student, Nina Sekerak, submitted this Dissertation for approval on 2015-09-03 at 20:28.","This Dissertation was approved for publication on 2015-09-10 at 15:51.","DSpace SAF Submission Ingestion Package generated from Vireo submission #8681 on 2016-03-08 at 11:05:05","Made available in DSpace on 2016-03-08T17:21:40Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 2 SEKERAK-DISSERTATION-2015.pdf: 2522025 bytes, checksum: 16b0b06c28ebbfb925b69af57c9a4d9a (MD5) LICENSE.txt: 4209 bytes, checksum: 6b74d3ce6693beb010366bcf45d9d2ae (MD5) Previous issue date: 2015-09-10","Embargo set by: Seth Robbins for item 91483 Lift date: 2018-03-08T17:22:13Z Reason: Author requested U of Illinois access only (OA after 2yrs) in Vireo ETD system","U of I Only Restriction Lifted for Item 91483 on 2018-03-09T10:15:15Z."],"dc:format":["application/pdf"],"dc:identifier":["http://hdl.handle.net/2142/89272"],"dc:language":["en"],"dc:rights":["Copyright 2015 Nina Marie Sekerak"],"dc:subject":["Touch-and-go chemistry","emulsion polymerization","dispersion polymerization","suspension polymerization","carboxypolystyrene","unsymmetrical peroxide","benzoyl peroxide","dimethylaniline"],"dc:title":["Touch-and-go chemistry: development of materials for and demonstration of a contact-initiated polymerization"],"dc:type":["text"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["Chemistry"],"thesis:degree_level":["Dissertation"],"thesis:degree_name":["Ph.D."],"thesis:institution_name":["University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-22T22:26:32Z"}