Mercie N. Hodges

Crosslinking 1,4-Polybutadiene via Allylic Amination: A New Strategy for Deconstructable Rubbers As post-consumer rubbers (e.g., car tires) continue to accumulate in landfills and the environment, there is an increasing need for more reprocessible materials. Traditionally, devulcanization of rubbers requires excessive energy and releases toxic byproducts. Accordingly, downcycling (e.g., crumb rubber for asphault or turf) is the major avenue for end-of-life thermoset elastomers.

Graphical Abstract Upcycling via the direct chemical functionalization of a commodity polymer is a promising strategy that introduces new value-added properties without destroying the parent backbone. This work harnesses the power of selenium-catalyzed C−H functionalization chemistry for the selective allylic amination of 1,4-polybutadiene, without alkene saturation or transposition, to tune thermal and surface wetting properties.