HOMOGENEOUS CATALYSIS BY ZINC-COMPLEXES DURING ACCELERATED VULCANIZATION

The occurrence of homogeneous catalysis by Zinc(ll) complexes during a ccelerated vulcanization was investigated by means of Reaction Stage M odeling. By carefully choosing models for particular stages of vulcani zation it has been possible to obtain valuable mechanistic information . Zinc complexes such as ZDMC appeared to be homogeneous catalysts for the processes of crosslink formation, crosslink shortening and crossl ink breaking. In the case of crosslink breaking, i.e. the process that can be related to reversion at the molecular level, an unprecedented reaction path was observed.