Derivatives of 2-Mercaptobenzothiazole and Dimethyldithiocarbamic Acid as Vulcanization Accelerators
Abstract 1. We have synthesized and investigated as vulcanization accelerators the derivatives of 2-mercaptobenzothiazole (MBT) in which the thiol hydrogen is replaced by the nonpolar methyl radical, as well as compounds in which methyl hydrogen of the methyl derivative is replaced by various functional groups. 2. It has been shown that methyl-2-thiolbenzothiazole is not an accelerator. The replacement in this compound of one of the methyl hydrogens by a polar hydroxyl group substantially enhances the activity (see, however, editors note in the text). The substitution of hydrogen by a carboxyl group does not increase vulcanizing activity. 3. We have determined that replacement of a methyl hydrogen by an amino radical increases sharply the accelerating activity. The structure obtained as a result of this reaction, benzothiazolyl-2-thiolmethyldiethylamine (BTMA), is of great practical interest as an accelerator. 4. The accelerator BTMA in stocks of natural and SKS rubber gives vulcanizates which are substantially superior in their properties to rubbers cured with MBT, and are practically equal to vulcanizates obtained with sulfenamide accelerators—sulfenamide BT and sulfenamide Z (Santocure). 5. The accelerator BTMA is much cheaper than sulfenamide BT since its production requires much less diethylamine. 6. It has been determined that, just as in the case of 2-mercaptobenzothiazole derivatives, for the derivatives of dimethyldithiocarbamic acid containing analogous functional groups the same results are obtained for the change in activity depending upon the chemical structure of the accelerator.