Radiochemical Investigation of Polymer Unsaturation. Reaction of Butyl Rubber with Radiochlorine
Abstract The reaction between chlorine and butyl rubber is of interest for two reasons: because of the industrial importance of the reaction the mechanism of which has not been fully understood, and because of the possibility of using it as a method for the determination of unsaturation. By the use of (36Cl)-chlorine, it has been possible to study the reaction on a conveniently small scale, the radiochlorine being manipulated quantitatively by a vacuum line technique. It has been shown that the reaction with chlorine is freer from side effects than the iodine chloride reaction. Two atoms of chlorine are incorporated in the polymer for each double bond originally present. These are incorporated not by addition but by a substitution process which is probably not free-radical in nature. A mechanism is proposed for the reaction. Radiochlorine is demonstrated to be potentially a useful reagent for investigating very low unsaturations in polymers.