Investigation of the oxidative cleavage of butyl rubber by selective catalysis

Selective oxidizing cleavage of carbon-carbon double bonds of unsaturated polymers leads to bifunctional oligomers. It is shown, using ruthenium tetroxide in catalytic amount in conjunction with a peracid as co-oxidizing agent, that efficient cleavage of butyl rubber double bonds can be obtained without side reaction. The procedure can be used for analytical as well as for synthetic purpose.