Isoprene Extraction

Isoprene is the monomer used for the production of synthetic rubbers called polyisoprenes. They are used in a wide variety of rubber applications including medical equipment, baby bottle nipples, toys, shoe soles, tires, elastic films and threads for golf balls or textiles. Other uses include adhesives, paints and coatings. Since butyl rubber has an outstanding impermeability to gases, it is used in applications such as in inner tubes. Styrene-isoprene rubber is a copolymer that is used in pressure sensitive adhesives.

Isoprene is commonly produced by extraction of the isoprene molecule from Crude C5 mixtures such as the C5 Diene Crude product. During this extraction process piperylene is also concentrated and collected as product from which the C5 based resin can be produced. The cyclopentadiene often found in the raw material can be dimerized to form dicyclopentadiene (DCPD).