A study of the ozonolysis of butadiene rubber in the presence of ethanol

The reaction of ozone with butadiene rubber (BR) having the microstructure: 90% 1,4-cis and 10% 1,4-trans and 1,2-cis, was investigated in pure chloroform and ethanol/chloroform mixture, respectively. Gel permeation chromatography was used to follow the molecular weight change of ozonolysed BR, and FT-IR and ¹H NMR were used to characterize the type and relative content of functional groups of ozonolysis products. It was found out that although the final ozonolysis products had almost the same functional groups whether ethanol was added or not, the addition of ethanol could efficiently prevent the cross-linking of ozonolysed BR.