The determination of unsaturation in ethylene propylene terpolymers and butyl rubber with pyridinium bromide perbromide

The reagent pyridinium bromide perbromide (PBPB) has been investigated for the determination of unsaturation in model olefins and in polymers of low total unsaturation. Model olefins give 92%–100% reaction for a 1‐hr reaction period. Ethylene propylene terpolymers react quantitatively without substitution or elimination and without second addition reactions when the termonomer unit is 1,4 hexadiene, methylene norbornene, ethylidene norbornene, or cyclooctadiene. Dicyclopentadiene terpolymers react incompletely. These reactions take place in carbon tetrachloride/10% methanol solution, the reagent being added as a methanolic solution. Iodine chloride can also be used under specified conditions for the more reactive termonomer units in this solvent mixture. Under the same conditions the PBPB reagent reacts stoichiometrically with butyl rubber, without second addition or substitution reactions. The unsaturation results also agree with those obtained using bromine or iodine monochloride in carbon tetrachloride solution, but both of these reagents give slight substitution reactions.