Direct catalytic hydrogenation of an acrylonitrile-butadiene rubber latex using Wilkinson's catalyst

Hydrogenated acrylonitrile-butadiene rubber is a high-performance elastomer that has found important applications in the automobile industry and petroleum fields. A new catalytic process has been investigated for producing hydrogenated acrylonitrile-butadiene rubber by direct hydrogenation of the rubber in latex form using RhCl(PPh3)(3) as catalyst. The reactions were achieved without the addition of any organic solvents. This is the first time that the direct catalytic hydrogenation of an acrylonitrile-butadiene rubber latex has been successfully realized in the absence of any 1 organic solvent with a conversion of higher than 95% without cross-linking of the polymer.