New homogeneous catalyst comprised of [Ru(methallyl) 2 (cod)] (cod = 1,5-cyclooctadiene) (1) and 2-diphenylphosphanyl-4-pyridyl(dimethyl)amine (2) is shown to efficiently catalyze the hydration of various nitriles under neutral conditions. The hydration proceeds in the presence of 0.5 mol% of the ruthenium catalyst at 80 °C in 1,2-dimethoxyethane solution and the corresponding amide is obtained within few hours without the formation of byproducts. Comparison of some phosphine ligands for the hydration reveals that the dimethylamino moiety of 2 improves the catalytic performance dramatically.

Monodisperse poly(D,L-lactide) (PDLLA) microspheres have been prepared by dispersion polymerization of D,L-lactide with a synthetic polymeric stabilizer. The polymerization is carried out in xylene/heptane (1:2, v/v) at 368 K for 3 h with poly[(dodecyl methacrylate)-co-(2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate)] (P(DMA-co-HEMA)). P(DMA-co-HEMA) has hydroxy groups as an initiation group for pseudoanionic dispersion polymerization. The particle diameter and the coefficient of variation concerning the diameter distribution of the obtained PDLLA microspheres are 3.9 µm and 4.3%, respectively. In addition, from the results of dynamic light scattering measurements, it is found that P(DMA-co-HEMA) and the PDLLA-grafted copolymer form a micellar structure in solution.

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