No abstract

Water, carbon dioxide, and condensable condensate produced during the oxidation of polyisoprene popcorn polymer were determined gravimetrically. For pure polyisoprene popcorn polymer from which 4.6% soluble polymer and volatiles were removed, the rates of water and carbon dioxide production during the early stages of the autoxidation were linear and amounted to approximately 2 moles of water and 0.2 moles of carbon dioxide for every 10 moles of oxygen reacted.The generally accepted scheme for polyisoprene oxidation must be modified to account for the water production. Two possible routes for its synthesis are: ROOH t ROOH -+ RO. t ROO. t HzO R O O H + R O .