We have made detailed comparison of the local and chain dynamics of a melt of 1,4-polybutadiene (PBD) as determined from experiment and molecular dynamics simulation at 353 K. The PBD was found to have a random microstructure consisting of 40% cis, 50% trans and 10% 1,2-vinyl units with a number average degree of polymerization = 25.4. Local (conformational) dynamics were studied via measu...

Catalytic aqueous polymerization of butadiene by the cobalt catalyst system [Co(C8H13)(C4H6)]/CS2 affords colloidally stable latices of highly crystalline syndiotactic 1,2-polybutadiene (Tm ) 190 °C, ∆Hc ) 60 J/g, Mw ∼ 105 g/mol, 97% 1,2, 3% 1,4-cis). Catalyst modification with reagents containing electrophilic carbon atoms (e.g., aromatic formamides) strongly decreases polymer crystallinity (T...