Patent ID: 7345115

Claim:
A process for the hydrogenation of carbon-carbon double bonds of a polymer in bulk form comprised of a conjugated diene and, optionally additional co-polymerizable monomer(s), comprising, hydrogenating a polymer at a temperature of from about 35° C. to about 250° C., and a hydrogen pressure of from about 0.1 to about 20 MPa, in the presence of a catalyst having the formula RhQL X wherein Q is hydrogen or an anion, wherein L is a ligand compound of the formula R m B, or R m B(CH 2 ) n BR m , wherein R is a C 1 -C 8 -alkyl group, a C 4 -C 8 -cycloalkyl group, a C 6 -C 15 -aryl group or a C 7 -C 15 -arylalkyl group, B is phosphorus, arsenic, sulfur, or a sulphoxide group, wherein m is 2 or 3, n is 2, 3, or 4, and wherein x is 2, 3 or 4, and wherein the process is carried out in the absence of an organic solvent at any stage.