Novel Process for the Production of Silane-Coupling Agent That Is Used in Energy-Saving Tire - Toward the 5% Reduction of Fuel Efficiency -

使用特定的醚溶剂，成功控制了金属钠与元素硫的直接反应。特别是，使用二甲氧基乙烷给出了最好的结果。在该体系中，得到组成与投料比对应的无水低聚硫化钠。此外，低聚硫醚与3-(三乙氧基甲硅烷基)丙基氯的反应定量地提供了相应的具有低聚硫醚结构的硅烷偶联剂。为了揭示低硫醚硫链的分布，将低硫醚与烷基化剂如甲基碘、丁基溴和苄基氯反应作为模型反应。分离所得二烷基低聚硫醚，通过各种光谱分析确定硫链的结构和分布。讨论了硫链分布与橡胶物理性能的关系。此外，将本研究中获得的硅烷偶联剂与市售硅烷偶联剂进行比较，前者作为轮胎胎纹添加剂优于后者，因为热交联受到抑制。

Using specific ether solvents, successful control of the direct reaction of sodium metal with elemental sulfur was attained. Especially, use of dimethoxyethane gave the best result. In this system, anhydrous sodium oligosulfide in which composition was corresponded to the feed ratio was obtained. Further, the reaction of the oligosulfide with 3-(triethoxysilyl)propyl chloride afforded corresponding silane coupling agent having oligosulfide structure quantitatively. To reveal the distribution of sulfur chain of oligosulfide, the oligosulfide was reacted with alkylation agent such as methyl iodide, butyl bromide, and benzyl chloride as the model reaction. The resulting dialkyloligosulfides were isolated to determine the structure and the distribution of sulfur chains by various spectroscopic analyses. The relationship between the sulfur chain distribution and the physical properties of the rubber was discussed. Further, in comparison of the silane coupling agent obtained in this study with that commercially available, the former is superior to the latter as the additive for the tire thread because thermal crosslinking was suppressed.