HOMOGENEOUS CATALYTIC-HYDROGENATION OF LIQUID CARBOXYLATED NITRILE RUBBER

Homogeneous catalytic hydrogenation of olefinic bonds in liquid carboxylated nitrile rubber (L-XNBR) has been carried out selectively in the presence of nitrile and carboxyl functionality using a six-membered cyclopalladate complex of 2-benzoyl pyridine as catalyst. The degree of hydrogenation has been calculated from IR and NMR spectroscopic studies. For example, 68% hydrogenation has been obtained for a sample (containing 0.057 carboxyl equivalent/100 g and 26.1% acrylonitrile) under 2.7 MPa hydrogenation pressure, 0.18 mmol/L catalyst, at 333 K for 1 h in acetone solution. The overall extent of hydrogenation depends on the catalyst-to-double-bond ratio. The kinetics of hydrogenation of L-XNBR has been investigated. The reaction exhibits a pseudo-first order dependence on the concentration of the substrate. The rate constant of the reaction is reduced by the increase in carboxyl and nitrile content of the polymer. The effect of temperature on reaction kinetics has also been studied and the activation energy of hydrogenation of L-XNBR is 20.2 kJ/mol. Intrinsic viscosity of the polymer remains unchanged during the reaction. A significant lowering of the glass transition temperature and improvement of thermal stability have been observed on hydrogenation.