Isoprene and Rubber. Part 41. The Hydrogenation of Rubber and Balata

Viscosity measurements of dilute solutions of rubber and of balata led to the following values for the size and form of the molecules of these hydrocarbons. It is therefore not a question of definition whether the particle sizes shown above are to be regarded as the molecular or the micellar weights of these substances, for here the concept of molecular weight has the same significance as in the case of lower molecular substances, i. e., the molecule comprises the sum of all atoms combined by normal, i. e., homopolar atoms. The only difference between low and high molecular substances is that low molecular substances are composed of molecules of uniform size, whereas high molecular substances are a mixture of homologous polymers, so that the values above refer to average molecular weights. These results, which explain the nature of colloidal solutions of rubber, are at variance with the views of most investigators of colloids, who ascribe a micellar structure to the rubber particles, and in this way explain the property which rubber has of forming colloidal solutions. This makes clear why until very recently explanations of the constitution of rubber have been open to question among these particular investigators themselves. In order to lend further support to our opinion, the reduction of rubber and balata and low molecular homologous polymeric hydrocarbons was undertaken from certain points of view, as shown in the work which follows.