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，成功地控制了金属钠与元素硫的直接反应。特别是，使用二甲氧基乙烷得到最好的结果。在该体系中，得到了组成与投料比相对应的无水低硫化钠。再与3-（三乙氧基硅基）丙基氯反应，定量地得到了相应的低硫硅烷偶联剂。以碘甲烷、溴代丁烷、氯化苄等烷基化试剂为模型反应，研究了低聚硫化物的硫链分布。分离得到的二烷基低聚硫化物，通过各种光谱分析来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，在本研究中获得的硅烷偶联剂与市售的硅烷偶联剂的比较中，前者作为轮胎线的添加剂上级后者，因为热交联被抑制。

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.