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

采用特定醚溶剂，成功地控制了金属钠与单质硫的直接反应。其中二甲氧基乙烷的使用效果最好。在该系统中，获得了组成与进料比相对应的无水低聚硫化钠。此外，通过低硫与3-（三乙氧基硅基）丙氯的反应，定量得到了相应的低硫结构硅烷偶联剂。为了揭示低聚硫醚的硫链分布，以低聚硫醚与碘化甲基、溴丁基和氯化苄等烷基化剂反应为模型反应。分离得到的二烷基低硫化合物，通过各种光谱分析确定了硫链的结构和分布。讨论了硫链分布与橡胶物理性能的关系。此外，将所制备的硅烷偶联剂与市售硅烷偶联剂进行比较，由于硅烷偶联剂抑制了热交联，其作为轮胎螺纹添加剂的性能优于市售硅烷偶联剂。

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.