Peroxidation of polybutene

The autocatalytic peroxidation performed dircectly with air of linear polybutene in the absence of special initiators was studied; hydroperoxides, peroxides, “active” hydrogen, alcohols were determined by chemical methods in the oxidized product, and the ketonic carbonyls were determined qualitatively by I.R. analysis. The variation with oxidation time of the quoted chemical functions was also determined. It results that the polymer degrades in a direct ratio with the content of active oxygen, that, at the beginning of the reaction, the amount of peroxides is negligible but the ratio between these and the hydroperoxides increases with time and after about 2 hrs. alcohols, hydroperoxides and peroxides are present in the oxidized product in comparable amounts, whereas acids appear only after about 8 hrs. of reaction.