Patent ID: 8609782

Claim:
A process for degrading a nitrile rubber comprising subjecting the nitrile rubber to a metathesis reaction in the presence of a catalyst of the general formula (I), where M is ruthenium or osmium, Y is oxygen (O), sulphur (S), an N—R 1 radical or a P—R 1 radical, X 1 and X 2 are identical or different ligands, R 1 is an alkyl, cycloalkyl, alkenyl, alkynyl, aryl, alkoxy, alkenyloxy, alkynyloxy, aryloxy, alkoxycarbonyl, alkylamino, alkylthio, arylthio, alkylsulphonyl or alkylsulphinyl radical, each of which may optionally be substituted by one or more alkyl, halogen, alkoxy, aryl or heteroaryl radicals, R 2 , R 4 , R 5 are identical or different and are each hydrogen, organic or inorganic radicals, R 3 is —SO 2 N(CH 3 ) 2 , R 6 is hydrogen or an alkyl, alkenyl, alkynyl or aryl radical and L is a ligand.