In this paper we conclude the study of the reaction of water with the first row transition metal ions. We report the study of the reaction of water with the late (Co+, Ni+, and Cu+) first row transition metal cations in both high- and low-spin states. In agreement with experimental observations, no exothermic products are found and the oxides are predicted to be more reactive than the metal ions. Formation of endothermic products is examined. An in-depth analysis of the reaction paths possible for these reactions is given, including various minima and several important transition states. All results have been compared with existing experimental and theoretical data, and our earlier works covering the (Sc+-Fe+) + H2O reactions to observe existent trends for the first row transition metal ions.

The kinetics and polymer microstructure of the seeded semibatch emulsion copolymerization of n-BA/MMA were investigated in this work. Free monomer concentration was determined online by means of FT-Raman spectrosocopy. The kinetics, gel fraction, and molecular weight distribution were determined for several semibatch reactions of different monomer composition. The experiments show that, when the amount of MMA in the recipe was increased (from 90/10 to 50/50 n-BA/MMA by moles), the instantaneous conversion increased, whereas the gel content decreased and the sol molecular weight exhibited no defined trend. A mathematical model was used to analyze the experimental data.

Reaction calorimetry and Raman spectroscopy were simultaneously implemented to monitor high solids content (∼50 wt %) semibatch emulsion polymerization reactions for two comonomer systems:  vinyl acetate/butyl acrylate, VAc/BA, and butyl acrylate/methyl methacrylate, BA/MMA. Overall and instantaneous conversions and free concentration of monomer were measured by means of each technique. It was found that both techniques provided comparable results for the overall conversion, no matter whether the reactions were carried out under starved (BA/MMA) or nonstarved conditions (VAc/BA). However, instantaneous conversion and free monomer concentrations were better estimated by Raman spectroscopy when the polymerization was carried out under starved conditions. Under nonstarved conditions (higher free monomer concentration and lower instantaneous conversions), Raman spectroscopy also provided slightly better estimates.