Hydrogenation of polybutadienes catalyzed by RuCl2(PPh3)3 and a structural study

The RuCl2(PPh3)3 complex was found to be a suitable catalyst system for the hydrogenation of polybutadiene (PB) rubber. The catalytic hydrogenation of PB was carried out in an autoclave in toluene with the ruthenium complex under 50 bar hydrogen pressure at 100°C. The resulting polymeric products were analyzed by FT-IR and NMR spectroscopic and DSC techniques. 13C-NMR spectroscopy was employed for estimating chain branching. NMR results for the products indicated that hydrogenation of PB was complete in 6 h using 0.3 mol% of catalyst. A comparative evaluation of samples of hydrogenated polybutadiene obtained by the polymerization of butadiene using Co+2, Ni+2 and Nd+3 based catalyst systems is described.