Use of a metallic mercaptothiazole or metallic mercaptobenzothiazole in golf ball compositions

1. A golf ball comprising:

a core formed from a reaction product comprising:

a resilient polymer component; a free radical source; and 1 to about 50 pph of at least one of a metallic mercaptobenzothiazole having the general formula II:

wherein R 1 , R 2 , R 3 , and R 4 are each independently hydrogen, unsubstituted or substituted alkyl, unsubstituted or substituted cycloalkyl, unsubstituted or substituted aryl, unsubstituted or substituted heteroaryl, unsubstituted or substituted alkoxy, alkylester, amido, amino, cyano, thioalkyl, hydroxyl, halogen, aldehyde, or alkylcarbonyl; and

M is selected from the group consisting of Zn, Cu, Ni, Co, Fe, Mn, Cr, V, Ti, Cd, Pd, Rh, Ru, Mo, Nb, Zr, Mg, Ca, Sr, Ba, Ge, Sn, Pb and Bi; and

a cover comprising thermoset polyurethane, thermoset polyurea, thermoplastic polyurea, or a combination thereof.

2. The golf ball of claim 1 , wherein M is Zn, Cu, Mg, Ca, Sn, Mn, or Cd.

3. The golf ball of claim 1 , wherein the metallic mercaptobenzothiazole is zinc mercaptobenzothiazole.

4. The golf ball of claim 1 , wherein metallic mercaptobenzothiazole is present in an amount from about 5 pph to about 20 pph by weight of the reaction product.

5. The golf ball of claim 1 , the golf ball further comprises an intermediate layer.

6. The golf ball of claim 1 , wherein the reaction product further comprises one or more crosslinking agent or filler.

7. The golf ball of claim 6 , wherein the crosslinking agent is a metallic salt of an unsaturated acid monomer or monocarboxylic acid.

8. The golf ball of claim 7 , wherein the metallic salt is selected from the group consisting of zinc acrylate, zinc diacrylate, zinc methacrylate, zinc dimethacrylate and mixtures thereof.

9. The golf ball of claim 8 , wherein the crosslinking agent is zinc diacrylate.

10. The golf ball of claim 6 , wherein the crosslinker is present from about 10 percent to about 50 percent of the resilient polymer component.

11. The golf ball of claim 10 , wherein the crosslinker is present from about 20 pph to about 40 pph.

12. The golf ball of claim 1 , wherein the cover comprises thermoset polyurethane, thermoset polyurea, or combination thereof.

13. The golf ball of claim 1 , wherein the golf ball core has an Atti compression of at least about 40.

14. The golf ball of claim 1 , wherein the golf ball has a coefficient of restitution of at least about 0.78.

15. The golf ball of claim 1 , wherein the golf ball has a ball spin rate of about 2500 rpm to about 4000 rpm when the golf ball is hit with a golf driver.

16. The golf ball of claim 1 , wherein the golf ball has a ball spin rate of about 6,500 rpm to about 10,000 rpm when the golf ball is hit with an 8-iron.

17. The golf ball of claim 5 , wherein the flexural modulus of the intermediate layer is about 2000 psi to about 200,000 psi and the flexural modulus of the cover is from about 5000 psi to about 100,000 psi.

18. The golf ball of claim 17 , wherein the core has a hardness of about 15 Shore A or greater, the intermediate layer has a hardness of about 30 Shore D or greater, and the cover has a hardness of 70 Shore D or less.

19. The golf ball of claim 1 , wherein the core has a specific gravity of at least about 1.5.

20. The golf ball of claim 1 , wherein the reaction product further comprises at least one density adjusting filler selected from the group consisting of a metal powder, a metal oxide, a foaming agent, and combinations thereof.

21. The golf ball of claim 1 , wherein the resilient polymer is selected from the group consisting of a cis-polybutadiene, trans-polybutadiene, cis-isoprene, trans-isoprene, thermoplastic copolyester block copolymer; dynamically vulcanized thermoplastic elastomer; hydrogenated styrene-butadiene elastomer, non-hydrogenated styrene-butadiene elastomer; thermoplastic polyurethane; polymers made using a metallocene catalyst; ethylene propylenediene monomer; ethylene propylene rubber; or mixtures thereof.

22. The golf ball of claim 21 , wherein the resilient polymer component comprises greater than about 90% cis-polybutadiene.

23. The golf ball of claim 22 , wherein the resilient polymer component comprises from about 95% to about 99% cis-polybutadiene.

24. The golf ball of claim 1 , wherein the resilient polymer component has a Mooney viscosity from about 30 to about 120.

25. The golf ball of claim 1 , wherein the reaction product further comprises a cis-to-trans catalyst.

26. The golf ball of claim 25 , wherein the reaction product further comprises an accelerator to enhance the cis-to-trans catalyst.

27. The golf ball of claim 26 , wherein the cis-to-trans catalyst is present in an amount from about 0.1 to about 25 parts per hundred of polybutadiene and the cis-to-trans catalyst is present in an amount from about 0.1 pph to about 100 pph.

28. The golf ball of claim 25 , wherein the cis-to-trans catalyst is at least one of a metal-containing or nonmetal organosulfur component, a Group VIA component, an inorganic sulfide, or a substituted or unsubstituted aromatic organic compound.

29. The golf ball of claim 28 , wherein the organosulfur component is 4,4′-diphenyl disulfide; 4,4′-diphenyl acetylene, 4,4′-ditolyl disulfide; 2,2′-benzamido diphenyl disulfide; bis(2-aminophenyl)disulfide; bis(4-aminophenyl)disulfide; bis(3-aminophenyl)disulfide; 2,2′-bis(4-aminonaphthyl)disulfide; 2,2′-bis(3-aminonaphthyl)disulfide; 2,2′-bis(4-aminonaphthyl)disulfide; 2,2′-bis(5-aminonaphthyl)disulfide; 2,2′-bis(6-aminonaphthyl)disulfide; 2,2′-bis(7-aminonaphthyl)disulfide; 2,2′-bis(8-aminonaphthyl)disulfide; 1,1′-bis(2-aminonaphthyl)disulfide; 1,1′-bis(3-aminonaphthyl)disulfide; 1,1′-bis(3-aminonaphthyl)disulfide; 1,1′-bis(4-aminonaphthyl)disulfide; 1,1′-bis(5-aminonaphthyl)disulfide; 1,1′-bis(6-aminonaphthyl)disulfide; 1,1′-bis(7-aminonaphthyl)disulfide; 1,1′-bis(8-aminonaphthyl)disulfide; 1,2′-diamino-1,2′-dithiodinaphthalene; 2,3′-diamino-1,2′-dithiodinaphthalene; bis(4-chlorophenyl)disulfide; bis(2-chlorophenyl)disulfide; bis(3-chlorophenyl)disulfide; bis(4-bromophenyl)disulfide; bis(2-bromophenyl)disulfide; bis(3-bromophenyl)disulfide; bis(4-fluorophenyl)disulfide; bis(4-iodophenyl)disulfide; bis(2,5-dichlorophenyl)disulfide; bis(3,5-dichlorophenyl)disulfide; bis(2,4-dichlorophenyl)disulfide; bis(2,6-dichlorophenyl)disulfide; bis(2,5-dibromophenyl)disulfide; bis(3,5-dibromophenyl)disulfide; bis(2-chloro-5-bromophenyl)disulfide; bis(2,4,6-trichlorophenyl)disulfide; bis(2,3,4,5,6-pentachlorophenyl)disulfide; bis(4-cyanophenyl)disulfide; bis(2-cyanophenyl)disulfide; bis(4-nitrophenyl)disulfide; bis(2-nitrophenyl)disulfide; 2,2′-dithiobenzoic ethyl; 2,2′-dithiobenzoic methyl; 2,2′-dithiobenzoic acid; 4,4′-dithiobenzoic ethyl; bis(4-acetylphenyl)disulfide; bis(2-acetylphenyl)disulfide; bis(4-formylphenyl)disulfide; bis(4-carbamoylphenyl)disulfide; 1,1′-dinaphthyl disulfide; 2,2′-dinaphthyl disulfide; 1,2′-dinaphthyl disulfide; 2,2′-bis(1-chlorodinaphthyl)disulfide; 2,2′-bis(1-bromonaphthyl)disulfide; 1,1′-bis(2-chloronaphthyl)disulfide; 2,2′-bis(1-cyanonaphtyl)disulfide; 2,2′-bis(1-acetylnaphthyl)disulfide; and the like; or a mixture thereof.

30. The golf ball of claim 29 , wherein the organosulfur component is 4,4′-diphenyl disulfide, 4,4′-ditolyl disulfide, or 2,2′-benzamido diphenyl disulfide, or a mixture thereof.

31. The golf ball of claim 28 , wherein the organosulfur component is a compound of general formula III:

where R 1 –R 5 is selected from the group consisting of C 1 –C 8 alkyl groups; halogen groups; thiol groups (—SH), carboxylated groups; sulfonated groups; and hydrogen.

32. The golf ball of claim 31 , wherein the organosulfur component is selected from the group consisting of pentafluorothiophenol; 2-fluorothiophenol; 3-fluorothiophenol; 4-fluorothiophenol; 2,3-fluorothiophenol; 2,4-fluorothiophenol; 3,4-fluorothiophenol; 3,5-fluorothiophenol 2,3,4-fluorothiophenol; 3,4,5-fluorothiophenol; 2,3,4,5-tetrafluorothiophenol; 2,3,5,6-tetrafluorothiophenol; 4-chlorotetrafluorothiophenol; pentachlorothiophenol; 2-chlorothiophenol; 3-chlorothiophenol; 4-chlorothiophenol; 2,3-chlorothiophenol; 2,4-chlorothiophenol; 3,4-chlorothiophenol; 3,5-chlorothiophenol; 2,3,4-chlorothiophenol; 3,4,5-chlorothiophenol; 2,3,4,5-tetrachlorothiophenol; 2,3,5,6-tetrachlorothiophenol; pentabromothiophenol; 2-bromothiophenol; 3-bromothiophenol; 4-bromothiophenol; 2,3-bromothiophenol; 2,4-bromothiophenol; 3,4-bromothiophenol; 3,5-bromothiophenol; 2,3,4-bromothiophenol; 3,4,5-bromothiophenol; 2,3,4,5-tetrabromothiophenol; 2,3,5,6-tetrabromothiophenol; pentaiodothiophenol; 2-iodothiophenol; 3-iodothiophenol; 4-iodothiophenol; 2,3-iodothiophenol; 2,4-iodothiophenol; 3,4-iodothiophenol; 3,5-iodothiophenol; 2,3,4-iodothiophenol; 3,4,5-iodothiophenol; 2,3,4,5-tetraiodothiophenol; 2,3,5,6-tetraiodothiophenoland; and zinc salts thereof.

33. The golf ball of claim 28 , wherein the at least one organosulfur component is substantially free of metal.

34. The golf ball of claim 28 , wherein the inorganic sulfide component is selected from the group consisting of sulfide analogs of titanium, manganese, iron, calcium, cobalt, molybdenum, tungsten, copper, selenium, yttrium, zinc, tin, strontium, barium, vanadium, chromium, nickel, copper, zinc, cadmium, and bismuth.

35. The golf ball of claim 28 , wherein the metal-containing organosulfur component is a metal analog of diethyldithiocarbamate, diamyldithiocarbamate, dimethyldithiocarbamate, or mixtures thereof, wherein the metal is cadmium, copper, lead, tellurium, zinc, tin, nickel, paladium, platinum, titanium, vanadium, chromium, or zirconium.

36. The golf ball of claim 28 , wherein the substituted or unsubstituted aromatic organic compound has the formula (R 1 )x-R 3 -M-R 4 -(R 2 ) y , wherein R 1 and R 2 are each hydrogen or a substituted or unsubstituted C 1-20 linear, branched, or cyclic alkyl, alkoxy, or alkylthio group, or a single, multiple, or fused ring C 6 to C 24 aromatic group; x and y are each an integer from 0 to 5; R 3 and R 4 are each selected from a single, multiple, or fused ring C 6 to C 24 aromatic group; and M is an azo group, acetylene group, or a metal component.

37. A method of manufacturing golf balls comprising:

providing a core;

optionally providing an intermediate layer disposed outside the core; and

providing at least one cover over the core and optional intermediate layer,

wherein the core, is formed from a reaction product comprising a resilient polymer component; a free radical source; and 1 to about 50 pph of at least one of a metallic mercaptobenzothiazole having the general formula II:

wherein R 1 , R 2 , R 3 , and R 4 are each independently hydrogen, unsubstituted or substituted alkyl, unsubstituted or substituted cycloalkyl, unsubstituted or substituted aryl, unsubstituted or substituted heteroaryl, unsubstituted or substituted alkoxy, alkylester, amido, amino, cyano, thioalkyl, hydroxyl, halogen, aldehyde, or alkylcarbonyl; and

M is selected from the group consisting of Zn, Cu, Ni, Co, Fe, Mn, Cr, V, Ti, Cd, Pd, Rh, Ru, Mo, Nb, Zr, Mg, Ca, Sr, Ba, Ge, Sn, Pb and Bi; and

wherein the cover comprises a thermoset polyurethane, thermoset polyurea, thermoplastic polyurea, or a combination thereof.

38. A golf ball comprising:

a core comprising a reaction product comprising a resilient polymer component having polybutadiene; a free radical source; zinc pentachlorothiophenol; and zinc mercaptobenzothiazole; and

a cover comprising a thermoset polyurethane, thermoset polyurea, thermoplastic polyurea, or a combination thereof.