Color Reactions of Rubber and Gutta-Percha
Abstract A previous article of mine entitled “Observations on Color Reactions of Rubber and Gutta-Percha” has led to the question whether intensely colored reaction products which are obtained by fusion of phenols with bromides of hydrocarbons give characteristic absorption spectra. I have carried out a few preliminary experiments on this subject, which appear to confirm my earlier point of view that the cause of the different colorations is to be found in dispersion color reactions. It is well known that when rubber bromide or gutta-percha bromide is suspended in carbon tetrachloride and is heated with phenol until the carbon tetrachloride is eliminated, a red-violet to blue fusion mixture is obtained, which gives colors of various stabilities depending upon the solvent into which the fusion mixture is dropped. Thus the blue and violet colorations in chloroform are stable for some time, but they change gradually to green and then to brown, with separation of a flocculent precipitate. Yellow-brown reaction products (hydroxyphenylhydrorubber and gutta-percha) are however obtained in the presence of catalysts (iron, aluminum chloride) or by the action of alkalies (NH3, KOH) or by pouring the blue-violet fusion mixtures into ether.