AbstractRubber hydrocarbon irradiated in vacuo is decomposed by ultraviolet light of wave length less than 4000 Å. The rubber very rapidly becomes insoluble, and liberates a gaseous mixture which consists mainly of hydrogen when the irradiation temperature is less than 150°C. The reaction characteristics have been investigated and point to the occurrence of dissociation processes similar to those deduced for comparable simple olefins. When irradiated above 150°C., small but significant amounts of isoprene appear in the volatile product, thereby providing an experimental means of determining the activation energy for the separation of isoprene from a polyisoprene chain terminated by an allyl radic