Mechanism of Formation of Zinc Dimethyldithiocarbamate (ZnDMDC) in Tetramethylthiuram Disulfide (TMTD) Vulcanization
Abstract Scheele and Bielstein recently have commented at length on the copolymerization (CP) theory of vulcanization which we proposed. They find the theory untenable with respect to TMTD vulcanization as well as with that using equivalent amounts of tetramethylthiuram monosulfide (TMTM) and sulfur. They feel that our presentation lacked in clarity and, therefore, that they did not understand it fully. Scheele and coworkers report that 66 per cent of the TMTD, or of the mixture of equivalent amounts of TMTM and sulfur, reacts to form ZnDMDC according to the first-order rate law during vulcanization in the presence of excess zinc oxide. This finding is a notable contribution. In particular, it suggests the possibility of sulfur-oxygen interchange as a feature of the overall reaction, which we may write: