The mechanism of devulcanization of sulfur-vulcanized natural rubber with aromatic disulfides and aliphatic
amines has been studied using 23-dimethyl-2-butene (C5H1,) as a low-molecular weight model compound. First C6H12
was vulcanized with a mixture of sulfur, zinc stearate and N-cyclohexyl-2-benzothiazylsulfenamide (CBS) as accelerator
at 140 °C, resulting in a mixture of addition products (C(,H 1 i-S,-C5H 1 i ). The compounds were isolated and identified
by High Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC) with respect to their various sulfur ranks. In it second stage, the
vulcanized products were devulcanized using the agents mentioned above at 200 °C. The kinetics and chemistry of the
breakdown of the sulfur-hridges were monitored. Both devulcanization agents decompose sulfidic vulcanization products
with sulfur ranks equal or higher than 3 quite effectively and with comparable speed. Di phenyldisulfide as devulcanization
agent gives rise to a high amount of mono- and disulfidic compounds formed during the devulcanization,
hexadecylamine, as devulcanization agent, prevents these lower sulfur ranks from being formed.