Date of Award

2010

Document Type

Dissertation/Thesis

Submission Date

October 2026

Abstract

PTFE (Teflon) tape has been reported as an alternative to liquid perfluoroalkanes in fluorous phase-vanishing (PV) reactions. Previous research on PV-PTFE reactions found that PTFE tape has unique characteristics compared to liquid flourous phase screens, including reagent permeabilities that are altered by exposure to certain organic solvents. This study investigates these characteristics by observing the effects of solvent adsorption on the diffusion of bromine and dimethyl phthalate. The directionality of solute diffusion in PV-PTFE chemiluminescence was also studied. Literature on Teflon films and on PV reactions is utilized to explain how the structural and chemical features of PTFE tape influence its permeability, and how solvents alter this permeability. We use structural arguments to explain why chemically-identical bulk PTFE behaves differently from PTFE tape. By better understanding how PTFE tape functions in PV reactions, the method may be improved and its use expanded.

Comments

by Brendon A. Parsons.

Extent

vii, 29 p. : ill. (some col.)

Identifier

779616047

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