Urea Inclusion Research Articles

Enrichment of Polyunsaturated Fatty Acids from Phyllanthus emblica L. Seed Oil by Urea Inclusion

Polyunsaturated fatty acids are essential to human nutrition. Phyllanthus emblica L. seed oil serves as a source of enrichment for the preparation of polyunsaturated fatty acids by urea inclusion technique. Under optimal conditions (6 g urea per 3 mL free fatty acids, crystallization temperature of −6°C, and crystallization time of 19 h), the purity of polyunsaturated fatty acids was up to 98.47% and the yield was 71.85%. The urea-polyunsaturated fatty acids inclusion complex was analyzed using differential scanning calorimetry, Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy/energy, and dispersive X-ray spectroscopy. The results showed that polyunsaturated fatty acids can be successfully separated by urea inclusion fractionation. The filled and hollow hexagonal prisms of urea crystal were clearly observed. In addition, the macroscopic and microscopic morphology of palmitic acid-urea inclusion were studied after washing with solvents using scanning electron microscopy and X-ray diffraction analysis to understand the involvement of guest molecules in the hexagonal crystal structure. The results showed that washing with solvents could not remove all the palmitic acid in the hexagonal structure of the urea inclusion complex, and the formation of hexagonal structure needed the support of involved guest molecules.

426 Effects of Urea and Distillers Inclusion in Finishing Diets on Steer Performance and Carcass Characteristics.

426 Effects of Urea and Distillers Inclusion in Finishing Diets on Steer Performance and Carcass Characteristics.

Enrichment of polyunsaturated fatty acids from seal oil through urea adduction and the fatty acids change rules during the process

The seal oil is a good resource of ω-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA). Besides being rich in EPA and DHA, it also contains a synergism factor-DPA. Urea adduction is a method that is widely used for the concentration of ω-3 PUFA. The aim of this work was to optimize the concentration conditions (urea/oil ratio, crystallization temperature, and time) for EPA, DPA, and DHA by response surface method and study the change rules of fatty acids during the process. The results showed that the optimal conditions for the enrichment was at 2.38:1 urea/FAEE ratio (w/w) upon crystallization at 15 °C for 2.5 hr. The concentration and recovery were 71.35 and 82.31%, respectively, under the optimal conditions. EPA was more easily to be entrapped into the urea than DPA and DHA. SFA (C14:0, C16:0) can be completely removed by urea adduction, while the urea adduction has limited effect on reducing the content of MUFA (C16:1, C18:1, and C20:1). It is necessary to take other methods to remove it. Practical applications Seal oil is rich in PUFAs (EPA, DPA, and DHA), which are helpful to human health. Urea adduction method is a good way to enrich PUFA from seal oil. The changes in FAEE profiles of the urea inclusion compounds and nonincluded FAEEs versus time is fundamental for a proper design, control, and optimization for the processing of functional seal oil.

Microwave-assisted cationic polymerization of palm olein and their urea inclusion products

Cationic polymerization is affected by the relative amount of unsaturated bond (C=C) in the compound. The enrichment of an unsaturated triglyceride fraction from oils may be performed using urea inclusion techniques. In this study, palm olein was enriched-unsaturated fraction using urea-methanol system. The palm olein and its urea-inclusion products were cationic polymerized with ethereal boron trifluoride catalyst and followed by irradiation using a commercial microwave (microwave-assisted). The microwave irradiated products were cured at 110 °C for 24 hours. Fatty acid composition of the palm olein and its urea-inclusion products were analyzed by gas chromatography. Iodine numbers, functional groups, and ultraviolet absorption spectra of all palm olein origin, urea inclusion products and polymerization products were analyzed using titrimetric, ultraviolet spectrophotometric, and Fourier Transform infrared spectrophotometric methods. Differential scanning calorimetric (DSC) was used to observe the thermal characteristics of the polymer. Urea-inclusion process increased the unsaturated fatty acid components as indicated by the increased iodine number, intensity of alkene band absorptions in the infrared spectra, and the absorbance of the ultraviolet spectra. The polymer formation is converting the C=C group to C-C, which is indicated by the opposite of the urea inclusion process. The curing process results in reformation of new C=C bonds that were similar to that of the urea inclusion process. The DSC thermogram curve shows that the enrichment process improves the thermal stability of the polymer formed.

The influence of a contaminant in commercial PMMA: A purification method for its removal and its consequences

An alkane-like contaminant was isolated from as-received commercial PMMA by forming a conventional urea inclusion compound during the preparation of a PMMA-urea complex. The contaminant, likely a surfactant used in the emulsion polymerization of PMMA, acts as a plasticizer in the commercial PMMA sample. After removing the contaminant, the resultant coalesced-PMMA showed an approximately 30 °C higher glass transition temperature than the as-received PMMA. Forming the PMMA-urea complex and then removing urea and the contaminant together with methanol can purify commercial PMMA and “unmask” its true Tg. Considering the large amount of research performed on PMMA blends, thin films, and nanocomposites, often with inconsistent or conflicting results, we believe the purity of some PMMAs used in past and future studies needs to be examined. Because commercial polystyrene is also obtained by emulsion polymerization and its blends, thin films, and nanocomposites have also been extensively studied, a similar contaminant may be affecting its behavior.

Orientation of polymer chains in spherulites of poly(ethylene oxide)-urea inclusion compounds

Orientation of polymer chains in the spherulites of polymer-small molecule inclusion compounds (IC) is an interesting issue. Two kinds of spherulite morphologies were observed in the metastable β phase of poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO)/urea IC under the same isothermal crystallization temperature. Via polarized micro-Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and two-dimensional wide angle X-ray diffraction technique, we found that PEO chains in the two morphologies oriented differently: one along the radius and the other along the tangential direction of the spherulites. The β IC spherulites with polymer chains along the radial direction crystallized directly from melt. In contrast, the metastable spherulites with polymer chain oriented along the tangential direction among the preformed urea crystals. The phase transition from the metastable β spherulites to the stable α IC during heating was examined as well. For the both types of spherulites of the β IC, the conversion rate along polymer chain direction was lower than that perpendicular to the polymer chain. After phase transition, the orientations of PEO chains almost did not change. The two types of morphologies with different orientations of β IC crystals in the spherulites can be attributed to the competitive nucleation behavior of the β PEO-urea IC and pure urea crystals, which varies with the EO/urea molar ratio in the mixture melt. With the increasing EO/urea molar ratio, the fastest growth direction of β IC will change from the direction along the PEO chain to that normal to the PEO chain. Namely, the polymer/small molecule molar ratio has profound effect on the growth behavior of the β phase IC crystals.

Preparation of Poly(butylene succinate) Crystals with Exceptionally High Melting Point and Crystallinity from Its Inclusion Complex

We successfully developed an effective strategy for preparing poly(butylene succinate) (PBS) material with exceptionally high crystallinity (94.4% from density data) and melting point (∼136 °C) from its urea inclusion complex under normal air pressure for the first time. The strategy consists of three steps: co-electrospinning PBS with urea, thermal treatment, and coalescence of PBS in water. Electrospinning provides well physical mixing between PBS and urea. Thermal treatment causes the assembly of PBS and urea and leads to formation of their inclusion complex, in which PBS chains are separately isolated in urea channels. During the coalescing process the isolated and ordered PBS chains formed crystals with lamellar thickness larger than 26 nm—larger than 5-fold of common PBS crystal—after removing host urea frames. PBS crystals obtained with such high crystallinity and melting point are proved to be the extended-chain crystals (ECCs). Comparative study reveals that the electrospinning and thermal treatm...

Carcass and meat traits, and non-carcass components of lambs fed ration containing increasing levels of urea

The objective of this study was to evaluate the carcass and meat traits, and the non-carcass components of crossbred Dorper lambs fed diets with increasing levels of urea (0.0, 0.5, 1.0, and 1.5% of dry matter – DM). The experimental design was completely randomized with four treatments (urea inclusion levels) and six replicates per treatment. Lambs were fed ad libitum for 56 days and slaughtered at 37.9 ± 5.1 kg of body weight (BW). The weight and yield of carcass before and after cooling were not influenced by urea levels, with average values of 16.9 kg and 44.6% for cold carcass weight and yield. Urea levels did not affect the morphometric measurements, the fat deposition on the carcass, the weight of carcass cuts and the weight of non-carcass components. There was a quadratic effect of urea levels on the loin yield, which may achieve maximum value of 11.31% with the inclusion of 0.84% DM urea in the feed. The pH and the color coordinates L* (brightness), a* (red intensity) and C* (saturation) of the meat also showed quadratic response to the urea levels, where in the minimum value of 5.53 for pH, maximum value of 48.67 for L* and minimum values of 14.04 and 16.21 for a* and C* may be obtained by including 0.53 to 0.70% DM urea in the ration. The inclusion of 0.84% DM urea in the ration is recommended to obtain maximum yield of loin and meat with attractive characteristics to the consumer, which is characterized by high red intensity and brightness. If consumers have preference for lamb meat with a more intense red color, the inclusion of 1.5% DM urea should be considered in the ration formulation.

Carcass and meat traits, and non-carcass components of lambs fed ration containing increasing levels of urea

The objective of this study was to evaluate the carcass and meat traits, and the non-carcass components of crossbred Dorper lambs fed diets with increasing levels of urea (0.0, 0.5, 1.0, and 1.5% of dry matter – DM). The experimental design was completely randomized with four treatments (urea inclusion levels) and six replicates per treatment. Lambs were fed ad libitum for 56 days and slaughtered at 37.9 ± 5.1 kg of body weight (BW). The weight and yield of carcass before and after cooling were not influenced by urea levels, with average values of 16.9 kg and 44.6% for cold carcass weight and yield. Urea levels did not affect the morphometric measurements, the fat deposition on the carcass, the weight of carcass cuts and the weight of non-carcass components. There was a quadratic effect of urea levels on the loin yield, which may achieve maximum value of 11.31% with the inclusion of 0.84% DM urea in the feed. The pH and the color coordinates L* (brightness), a* (red intensity) and C* (saturation) of the meat also showed quadratic response to the urea levels, where in the minimum value of 5.53 for pH, maximum value of 48.67 for L* and minimum values of 14.04 and 16.21 for a* and C* may be obtained by including 0.53 to 0.70% DM urea in the ration. The inclusion of 0.84% DM urea in the ration is recommended to obtain maximum yield of loin and meat with attractive characteristics to the consumer, which is characterized by high red intensity and brightness. If consumers have preference for lamb meat with a more intense red color, the inclusion of 1.5% DM urea should be considered in the ration formulation.

Neutron Diffraction Studies on Guest-Induced Distortions in Urea Inclusion Compounds

Single crystal neutron structures at several temperatures have been determined for β-phase urea inclusion compounds containing hexadecane, 1,6-dibromohexane, and 2,7-octanedione guests. The neutron structure of the “partial channel” cocrystal of urea and DMF is also reported. Here we present an in-depth discussion and analysis of the structure and bonding of this urea series, in particular, how the guest compound affects the symmetry and hydrogen bonding of the host urea network. Additionally, we address the challenge of obtaining crystals suitable for neutron diffraction and present a new heating/cooling device to aid crystallization.

Diffusional behavior and guest conformational analysis of hexadecane-1,16-diol and hexadecane in urea crystal model via molecular dynamics simulation approach.

Diffusion at the atomic or molecular level is a source of many physical, chemical, and biological processes taking place in plentiful materials. This work is an endeavor toward investigating the diffusional behavior of two different type of guests, hexadecane-1,16-diol and hexadecane enclathration in urea tunnel architecture, whereby the correlation of the diffusion mechanism with the guest's structural and conformational properties is explored. To carry out this study, molecular dynamics simulation approach is adopted. It is found that hexadecane-1,16-diol exhibit slower diffusion with an average diffusion coefficient value [Formula: see text], where hexadecane diffuse more rapidly with an average diffusion coefficient value [Formula: see text]. It is also observed that the structural properties influence the guest's travel distance and torsion angle distribution of the trans and gauche conformational proportion. Furthermore, the observed high energy barrier accounted for hexadecane-1,16-diol and low energy barrier for hexadecane along urea tunnel systems was analyzed. The comparison of our obtained results are in close agreement with the available experimental measurements, i.e., gauche proportion properties between two different guest molecules correlate well with Raman spectroscopy investigation on α,ω-dihalogenoalkane/urea inclusion compounds. Our calculations also successfully endorse the structure-property relation between the two systems.

Behavioral pattern exploration of single guest, hexadecane-1,16-diol and hexadecane in urea inclusion compounds via molecular dynamics simulation

The urea inclusion compounds, a unique polar organic crystalline complex, are considered as a potential candidate for a molecular separator of long chain alkane molecule. A well-defined structure of the crystalline channel systems constructed from hydrogen bonding arrangement of the urea molecules, can be used to understand the fundamental aspects of the processes involving ions or molecules transportation. To do so, in our work, molecular dynamics approach is implemented to understand the behavioral pattern of the hexadecane-1,16-diol and hexadecane guests’ related to translational and rotational orientation along the urea tunnel. Our obtained results reveal that high interaction of hexadecane-1,16-diol with urea host molecules offers a restricted environment inside urea tunnel, resulting in slowing down the guest movement. Hexadecane guest system, on the contrary, exhibits lower interaction whereby the translational and rotational movement is faster. Moreover, as the distance increases (along [Formula: see text]-axis) in the urea tunnel, both guest systems favor a clockwise rotational orientation. Preference of the respected orientation indicates the influence of chiral urea tunnel on achiral guests that is clathrate inside the tunnel structure.

Intake, total and partial digestibility of nutrients, and ruminal kinetics in crossbreed steers fed with multiple supplements containing spineless cactus enriched with urea

Multiple supplements are used in pasture-based systems to manage deficits in the forage, and they can be composed of a controller mixture (e.g. urea+mineral mixture) to regulate the intake of the animals. The effect of using spineless cactus enriched with urea in place of traditional multiple supplements was evaluated for nutrient intake, partial and total digestibility, and ruminal kinetics in crossbred steers. Five steers, 1/2 Holstein x Zebu, with permanent cannulas in the rumen and with an average initial body weight of 240±22.1kg, were used in a 5×5 Latin square. The treatments consisted of four levels of inclusion of urea (0%, 1%, 2%, and 3%) in dry matter (DM) and a control treatment with a traditional multiple supplement. The Tifton-85 hay, used as forage, had high neutral detergent fiber (659g NDF kg−1 of DM) and low crude protein (62g CP kg−1 of DM) content. There was a linear increase in the intake of CP and a quadratic effect in intake of dry matter (DM), organic matter (OM), non-fiber carbohydrates (NFC), NDF, and digestible OM according to the urea inclusion level. The maximum point for total OM digestibility (645gkg−1) was with the inclusion of 2% urea. There was an improvement in ruminal digestibility of DM, NDF, and CP when spineless cactus was enriched with urea. The ruminal pool of DM, NDF, and iNDF did not change with the inclusion of urea in the diets. Increased intake rate (ki) was observed when spineless cactus was enriched with urea. The passage rate (kp) of spineless cactus enriched with 3% urea was similar to the control diet. The rate of NDF degradation increased in the diets enriched with spineless cactus. It is suggested that spineless cactus enriched with up to 2% urea efficiently replaces traditional multiple supplements.

Effects of polymer coated slow-release urea on ruminal fermentation and nutrient total tract digestion of beef steers

The objective of this study was to evaluate the effects of polymer coated slow-release urea (SRU) in high-forage diets of beef steers on nutrient intake and digestibility, ruminal fermentation, microbial protein synthesis, and energy balance. Eight 24-mo-old rumen-fistulated castrated Nellore steers (average body weight = 418.0±40.0 kg) were used in a replicated 4 × 4 Latin square design. Animals were randomly distributed to receive one of the following diets: no urea inclusion; 1.0% inclusion of feed grade urea in the diet (dry matter [DM] basis); 1.0% inclusion of slow-release urea 1 in the diet (DM basis); and 1.0% inclusion of slow-release urea 2 in the diet (DM basis). Slow-release urea 2 had a similar composition to that of slow-release urea 1 and differed in that it contained 2.95% sulfur. A high-forage diet was provided (75% of total DM) and corn silage was used as the forage source. Diets with urea had increased crude protein (CP) intake, and CP and total digestible nutrients total tract digestion. Urea sources increased ruminal concentrations of ammonia nitrogen and acetate, and decreased butyrate concentrations. The polymer coated urea did not alter ruminal fermentation when compared with feed grade urea. Diets did not affect the energy balance of steers. Feed grade urea presented greater microbial protein synthesis than polymer coated slow-release urea. The partial replacement of soybean meal by 1% slow-release urea in a diet with 75% forage does not improve ruminal fermentation and microbial protein synthesis, and shows similar results as feeding feed grade urea to beef steers.

Effect of slow-release urea inclusion in diets containing modified corn distillers grains on total tract digestibility and ruminal fermentation in feedlot cattle.

Ruminal degradable intake protein (DIP) deficit may result when cattle are fed diets containing a greater inclusion of processed corn grain and small to moderate inclusion of corn distillers grains (DG). This deficit may arise from greater proportions of rapidly fermentable carbohydrates and RUP in corn grain. Urea-derived N is 100% DIP; however, rates of degradation of carbohydrates and conventional urea (CU) may not match. Therefore, beneficial effects may result from the use of slow-release urea (SRU) sources over CU when added to DIP-deficient diets. An experiment was conducted to evaluate the effect of increasing DIP concentration through inclusion of 1 of 2 SRU sources or CU in DG-containing feedlot diets on ruminal fermentation and total tract digestibility. In addition, an in situ experiment was conducted to characterize N disappearance of urea sources from polyester bags. Four ruminally cannulated steers (initial BW = 588 ± 8 kg) were arranged in a 4 × 4 Latin square design and assigned randomly to 1 of 4 dietary treatments containing 0% (CON) or 0.6% urea in the form of CU (UREA) or SRU as Optigen II (polymer-encapsulated urea; OPTI) or NitroShure (lipid-encapsulated urea; NITRO), and 30% corn earlage, 20% modified corn DG with solubles, 7.8% corn silage, 4.3% dry supplement, and dry-rolled corn (DM basis). Dietary DIP was estimated at 6.6% and 8.3% for CON and urea-containing dietary treatments, respectively. Steers were fed ad libitum once daily. Differences in purine derivatives-to-creatinine (PDC) index between treatments were used as indicators of differences in microbial CP synthesis. Intake of OM, digestibility of OM, NDF, CP, and starch, ruminal pH, total VFA ruminal concentration, and PDC index were not affected by treatment ( ≥ 0.21). Concentration of ammonia-N noticeably peaked at 4 h after feed delivery for cattle fed UREA (treatment × time, = 0.06) and measured at least 5.5 mg/dL for any treatment and at any hour after feed delivery. During the first 12 h after incubation, N disappearance was greater for CU and NitroShure than Optigen II (urea source × time, < 0.01). Supplementing DIP through inclusion of CU or SRU did not affect feed intake, digestibility, or most of the ruminal fermentation parameters evaluated, which may relate to the lack of need of urea supplementation in the present experiment. More research is warranted to evaluate the use of SRU in DIP-deficient diets.

Formation of Poly(3-hydroxybutyrate) (PHB) Inclusion Compound with Urea and Unusual Crystallization Behavior of Coalesced PHB

PHB-U-IC has been prepared for the first time by the cocrystallization method. The structure and conformation of poly(3-hydroxybutyrate) (PHB) chains encapsulated in urea (U) channels formed in the PHB-U inclusion complex (PHB-U-IC) were studied by DSC, FTIR, and solid-state NMR spectroscopy. The XRD pattern and FTIR spectroscopy demonstrated that PHB-U-IC takes a different crystal structure than the well-reported hexagonal and trigonal crystal structures of polymer urea inclusion compounds. PHB-U-IC takes an expanded tetragonal crystal structure. The conformation of PHB in the confined environment has been characterized by solid-state NMR spectroscopy and shown that PHB adopts a conformation similar to bulk PHB. The crystallization and thermal properties of as-received PHB and PHB coalesced from its U-IC were compared and demonstrated that the coalesced PHB crystallizes much slower than as-received PHB. Crystallinity of nonisothermally melt crystallized as-received PHB was found to be significantly higher than the crystallinity of nonisothermally melt crystallized coalesced PHB, indicating that coalesced PHB is not easily converted into semicrystalline PHB.

Isolation of Linoleic Acid from Sambucus williamsii Seed Oil Extracted by High Pressure Fluid and Its Antioxidant, Antiglycemic, Hypolipidemic Activities

Abstract Linoleic acid was isolated effectively from Sambucus williamsii (SW) seed oil which was extracted by high-pressure fluid and its biological activities were investigated. Linoleic acid was isolated from the oil by urea inclusion, the yield was 65.81% and the purity was 92.12%. 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) free radical scavenging assay was used to determine the antioxidant activity of linoleic acid. IC50 of DPPH radical scavenging activity of linoleic acid was 61.92 mg/mL. The antiglycemic activity of linoleic acid was evaluated by determining its inhibitory effect on α-glucosidase. The results showed that α-glucosidase was inhibited to a certain extent by linoleic acid (1.56–25 mg/mL). In addition, the hypolipidemic activity of linoleic acid was investigated in vivo using hyperlipidemia mice models fed with the linoleic acid at doses of 1, 2, 4 g/kg BW (body weight). The results showed that serum lipid levels were highly significantly (p&lt;0.01) improved, which indicated the hypolipidemic activity of linoleic acid. The linoleic acid extracted from SW seed oil was proved to possess good antioxidant, antiglycemic and hypolipidemic activity in human diets, which may have industrial use.

X-ray Birefringence Imaging of Materials with Anisotropic Molecular Dynamics.

The X-ray birefringence imaging (XBI) technique, reported very recently, is a sensitive tool for spatially resolved mapping of the local orientational properties of anisotropic materials. In this paper, we report the first XBI measurements on materials that undergo anisotropic molecular dynamics. Using incident linearly polarized X-rays with energy close to the Br K-edge, the X-ray birefringence is dictated by the orientational properties of the C-Br bonds in the material. We focus on two materials (urea inclusion compounds containing 1,8-dibromooctane and 1,10-dibromodecane guest molecules) for which the reorientational dynamics of the brominated guest molecules (and hence the reorientational dynamics of the C-Br bonds) are already well characterized by other experimental techniques. The XBI results demonstrate clearly that, for the anisotropic molecular dynamics in these materials, the effective X-ray optic axis for the X-ray birefringence phenomenon is the time-averaged resultant of the orientational distribution of the C-Br bonds.

New in situ solid-state NMR techniques for probing the evolution of crystallization processes: pre-nucleation, nucleation and growth.

The application of in situ techniques for investigating crystallization processes promises to yield significant new insights into fundamental aspects of crystallization science. With this motivation, we recently developed a new in situ solid-state NMR technique that exploits the ability of NMR to selectively detect the solid phase in heterogeneous solid-liquid systems (of the type that exist during crystallization from solution), with the liquid phase "invisible" to the measurement. As a consequence, the technique allows the first solid particles produced during crystallization to be observed and identified, and allows the evolution of different solid phases (e.g., polymorphs) present during the crystallization process to be monitored as a function of time. This in situ solid-state NMR strategy has been demonstrated to be a powerful approach for establishing the sequence of solid phases produced during crystallization and for the discovery of new polymorphs. The most recent advance of the in situ NMR methodology has been the development of a strategy (named "CLASSIC NMR") that allows both solid-state NMR and liquid-state NMR spectra to be measured (essentially simultaneously) during the crystallization process, yielding information on the complementary changes that occur in both the solid and liquid phases as a function of time. In this article, we present new results that highlight the application of our in situ NMR techniques to successfully unravel different aspects of crystallization processes, focusing on: (i) the application of a CLASSIC NMR approach to monitor competitive inclusion processes in solid urea inclusion compounds, (ii) exploiting liquid-state NMR to gain insights into co-crystal formation between benzoic acid and pentafluorobenzoic acid, and (iii) applications of in situ solid-state NMR for the discovery of new solid forms of trimethylphosphine oxide and L-phenylalanine. Finally, the article discusses a number of important fundamental issues relating to practical aspects, the interpretation of results and the future scope of these techniques, including: (i) an assessment of the smallest size of solid particle that can be detected in in situ solid-state NMR studies of crystallization, (ii) an appraisal of whether the rapid sample spinning required by the NMR measurement technique may actually influence or perturb the crystallization behaviour, and (iii) a discussion of factors that influence the sensitivity and time-resolution of in situ solid-state NMR experiments.

Insulated Polyacetylene Chains in an Inclusion Complex by Photopolymerization

ABSTRACTThe properties of a material often depend on the degree of order of their atomic, molecular, or crystalline domain components. This is expected to be especially true for the case of polyacetylene, whose properties are highly anisotropic. For many applications, it may be necessary to have macroscopic order but not necessarily crystalline order. Having polyacetyelene chains fully extended and aligned parallel to each other may be sufficient for these applications even without order of the chains around their long axis. We report here progress in the use of an inclusion crystal containing a photo-reactive precursor to prepare high molecular weight polyacetylene. Raman spectroscopy was performed to probe the resulting conjugated polyene chains. Ultraviolet irradiation of a 1,4-diiodo-1,3-butadiene/urea inclusion complex results in the appearance of new resonance-enhanced Raman modes at 1125 and 1509 cm-1. The Raman spectra of the resulting confined polyene chains are very similar to freestanding isolated trans-polyacetylene prepared by solution methods.