carriers promcite disperse dyeability of the nytril fiber at 100 "C is not completely understood but may involve an increase in both affinity and diffusion rate. Typical carriers such as methyl p-toluate and o-phenylphenol combine strongly with many disperse dyes and, when inside the fiber, may act as temporary dye sites. In addition, these compounds are strong solvating agents for sites of dipole interaction and thus may be expected to lower the wet glass transition temperature to some degree, resulting in improved diffusion rate.While a discussion of the properties and performance of fabrics made from Darvan@ nytril fiber is beyond the scope of this paper, it should be stated that the postulates concerning performance which have been derived from fiber properties have been borne out by extensive fabric trials. Soft texture, resilience, shape retention throughout wearing and laundering, and a high degree of resistance to wrinkling have been experienced with such fabrics.
Relationship of Properties to Fiber StructureThe outstanding features of softness, elasticity, resilience, and resistance to moisture displayed by the nytril fiber may be traced directly to its chemical constitution and fine structure. The relatively low degree of orientation and lateral order, together with the large number of points of intermolecular attraction provided by the polarized cyano groups, result in a strong, flexible network of molecules. This, in turn, is responsible for the soft, resilient texture of the fiber. The strength of the dipole-pair intermolecular bond, which is of the order of 8-10 kcal./mol. for alkyl cyanides [7] and which is probably much higher for vinylidene cyanide, owing to resonance, together with the large number of such bonds, probably accounts for the high degree of elastic recovery, the good wrinkle resistance, and the relative insensitivity to hot water. These same factors, of course, would tend to increase the wet glass transition temperature and reduce the dye diffusion rate. The industrial production of capryllactam (I-azacyclononan-2-one) and of laurolactam (I-azacyclotridecan-2-one) starts with cyclization of acetylene or butadiene to give cyclooctatetraene or cyclooctadiene, or cyclization of butadiene to give cyclododecatriene. Further steps are: oxidation of the cyclic hydrocarbon to the ketone, formation of the oxime, and rearrangement of the latter with sulfuric acid. Pyrrolidone can be prepared from acetylene and formaldehyde by way of butyrolactone. The behavior of the lactams during polycondensation is described and the properties of the resulting fibers are compared with those of the known polyamide fibers.
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