Butadiene , Isoprene

Isoprene (2-methyl-1,3-butadiene) is a colorless liquid, soluble in alcohol but not in water. Its boiling temperature is 34.1 °C. 

Isoprene is the second important conjugated diene for synthetic rubber production. The main source for isoprene is the dehydrogenation of C5 olefins (tertiary amylenes) obtained by the extraction of a C5 fraction from catalytic cracking units. It can also be produced through several synthetic routes using reactive chemicals such as isobutene, formaldehyde, and propene (Chapter 3). 

The main use of isoprene is the production of polyisoprene. It is also a comonomer with isobutene for butyl rubber production. 

Benzene, toluene, xylenes (BTX), and ethylbenzene are the aromatic hydrocarbons with a widespread use as petrochemicals. They are important precursors for many commercial chemicals and polymers such as 

Accordingly, they do not easily add to reagents such as halogens and acids as do alkenes. Aromatic hydrocarbons are susceptible, however, to electrophilic substitution reactions in presence of a catalyst. 

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The use of alkaU metals for anionic polymerization of diene monomers is primarily of historical interest. A patent disclosure issued in 1911 (16) detailed the use of metallic sodium to polymerize isoprene and other dienes. Independentiy and simultaneously, the use of sodium metal to polymerize butadiene, isoprene, and 2,3-dimethyl-l,3-butadiene was described (17). Interest in alkaU metal-initiated polymerization of 1,3-dienes culminated in the discovery (18) at Firestone Tire and Rubber Co. that polymerization of neat isoprene with lithium dispersion produced high i7j -l,4-polyisoprene, similar in stmcture and properties to Hevea natural mbber (see ELASTOLffiRS,SYNTHETic-POLYisoPRENE Rubber, natural). 

AlkyUithium compounds are primarily used as initiators for polymerizations of styrenes and dienes (52). These initiators are too reactive for alkyl methacrylates and vinylpyridines. / -ButyUithium [109-72-8] is used commercially to initiate anionic homopolymerization and copolymerization of butadiene, isoprene, and styrene with linear and branched stmctures. Because of the high degree of association (hexameric), -butyIUthium-initiated polymerizations are often effected at elevated temperatures (>50° C) to increase the rate of initiation relative to propagation and thus to obtain polymers with narrower molecular weight distributions (53). Hydrocarbon solutions of this initiator are quite stable at room temperature for extended periods of time the rate of decomposition per month is 0.06% at 20°C (39). 

Such copolymers of oxygen have been prepared from styrene, a-methylstyrene, indene, ketenes, butadiene, isoprene, l,l-diphen5iethylene, methyl methacrjiate, methyl acrylate, acrylonitrile, and vinyl chloride (44,66,109). 1,3-Dienes, such as butadiene, yield randomly distributed 1,2- and 1,4-copolymers. Oxygen pressure and olefin stmcture are important factors in these reactions for example, other products, eg, carbonyl compounds, epoxides, etc, can form at low oxygen pressures. Polymers possessing dialkyl peroxide moieties in the polymer backbone have also been prepared by base-catalyzed condensations of di(hydroxy-/ f2 -alkyl) peroxides with dibasic acid chlorides or bis(chloroformates) (110). 

Copolymers with acrylonitrile, butadiene, isoprene, acrylates, piperjiene, styrene, and polyethylene have been studied. The high cost of sorbic acid as a monomer has prevented large-scale uses. The abiUty of sorbic acid to polymerize, particularly on metallic surfaces, has been used to explain its corrosion inhibition for steel, iron, and nickel (14). 

Currently, important TPE s include blends of semicrystalline thermoplastic polyolefins such as propylene copolymers, with ethylene-propylene terepolymer elastomer. Block copolymers of styrene with other monomers such as butadiene, isoprene, and ethylene or ethylene/propy-lene are the most widely used TPE s. Styrene-butadiene-styrene (SBS) accounted for 70% of global styrene block copolymers (SBC). Currently, global capacity of SBC is approximately 1.1 million tons. Polyurethane thermoplastic elastomers are relatively more expensive then other TPE s. However, they are noted for their flexibility, strength, toughness, and abrasion and chemical resistance. Blends of polyvinyl chloride with elastomers such as butyl are widely used in Japan. ... 

Simple conjugated dienes used in polymer synthesis include 1,3-butadiene, chloroprene (Z-chloro-l -butadiene), and isoprene (2-methyl-l,3-butadiene). Isoprene has been prepared industrially by several methods, including the acid-catalyzed double dehydration of S-methyl-l/S-butanediol. 

Chiral titanium- and scandium-based catalysts (61 and 62, Figure 3.11) were used to accelerate the cycloadditions of acyl-l,3-oxazolidin-2-ones 60 (Scheme 3.14) with butadiene, isoprene and cyclopentadiene. The cycloadditions... 

Polymer stereochemistry, sometimes referred to as tacticity, is not the only source of variation in polymer configuration. For the monosubstituted butadiene isoprene, the structures shown in Figure 3.2 are possible. 

This review covers the personal view of the authors deduced from the literature starting in the middle of the Nineties with special emphasis on the very last years former examples of structure-sensitive reactions up to this date comprise, for example, the Pd-catalyzed hydrogenation of butyne, butadiene, isoprene [11], aromatic nitro compounds [12], and of acetylene to ethylene [13], In contrast, benzene hydrogenation over Pt catalysts is considered to be structure insensitive [14] the same holds true for acetonitrile hydrogenation over Fe/MgO [15], CO hydrogenation over Pd [16], and benzene hydrogenation over Ni [17]. For earlier reviews on this field we refer to Coq [18], Che and Bennett [9], Bond [7], as well as Ponec and Bond [20]. 

The chemo- and regioselectivities of hydroformylation reactions of open chain, conjugated dienes using the usual catalyst are, in most cases, rather low [36]. The rhodium/ mesitylene co-condensate (catalyst A), in the presence of bis(diphenylphosphino)ethane, DPPE, catalyses the hydroformylation of 1,3-butadiene, isoprene, and E,Z)-, 3-pentadiene to the corresponding p,y-unsaturated monoaldehydes, with unusually high chemo- and regioselectivities (Scheme 17). 

The main products correspond in most cases to a formal [4+l]-cycloaddition. With butadiene, isoprene or a,/3-unsaturated ketones small amounts of a double bond isomer (a,/3 to Si) are observed. With a,/J-unsaturated amines the latter type of isomer is the main product. The nature of both isomers is consistent with a primary [2+l]-cycloaddition, preferably at a C=Y unit (Y = O, NR), followed by a ring-opening isomerization. 

Figure 3. Melting points of butadiene-isoprene copolymers. DSC at 20°C/min...

Figure 4. BR + IR is a 50/50 (wt) blend of synthetic cis-1,4-polyisoprene and cis-1,4-polybutadiene. Bl copolymers are random cis-1,4-butadiene-isoprene copolymers with the same composition. Results obtained with Rheovibron on gum vulcanizates at 110 Hz frequency.

The catalyst activity is so high that uranium concentration lower than 0.1 millimoles per liter allows a complete conversion of butadiene to be obtained in a few hours, at 20°C, The transfer reaction of uranium based catalyst is similar to that of conventional 3d-block elements (titanium, cobalt, nickel) so that the molecular weight of the polymer is affected by polymerization temperature, polymerization time and monomer concentration in the customary way. This is in contrast, as we shall see later on, to some catalysts based on 4 f-block elements. Uranium based catalysts are able to polymerize isoprene and other dienes to high cis polymers the cis content of polyisoprene is 94%, somewhat inferior to titanium based catalysts. In contrast, with 3d-block elements an "all cis", random butadiene-isoprene... 

Since the anionic triblock copolymers are based on monomers susceptible to this mechanism, one recent approach to this synthesis has been to prepare butadiene-isoprene-butadiene triblock copolymers, which are then hydrogenated so that the high-1,4 polybutadiene end blocks become crystallizable, similar to high-pressure polyethylene (l -5 ). 

The hydrogenated (H) block copolymers will be designated by giving the butadiene (B) or isoprene (i) block sequence followed by a number which represents the total weight percentage of butadiene in the polymer. For example HBIB-27 is a hydrogenated triblock copolymer of butadiene-isoprene-butadiene which contains 27% butadiene. Since the polymer is symmetric, the relative composition of each block is therefore 13.5% B -73% I -13.5% B. 

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