xxxxx - 1-6-2012 at 08:07
i am guessing that there are double bonds in gum like rubber which owes it elasticity to resonance betweent the alternating double and single bonds in
the carbon chain.
if this hypothesis is correct i am guessing that KMnO4 would break the double bonds and oxidize the exposed carbons of the broken chain to carboxyl
groups turning the gum to units of oxalic or malonic acid which could be washed away wih water.
could someone give me some feedback on this.
bbartlog - 1-6-2012 at 08:51
Define 'gum'. But in general, if some organic goo is hard to clean off, it may well be that a lot of those double bonds have already cross-linked with
each other, which will make your approach futile. I would try solvents instead of oxidation; oxidation as a means to cleaning off organic matter only
works well if done to the nth degree, i.e. Piranha solution. Short of that it tends to make a mess.