It was difficult to obtain high degree of hydrogenation of hydroxyl-terminated liquid nitrile rubber (HTBN) by using homogeneous noble metal catalyst because the hydroxyl (-OH) in HTBN was likely to cause catalyst poisoning. In this study, with hexamethyl disilylamine protecting -OH, a good yields of hydrogenated HTBN was synthesized through the use of homogeneous metal catalyst. The effects of catalyst concentration, reaction time, hydrogen pressure, and temperature on the hydrogenation of HTBN were investigated and obtained the following optimum process parameter values: catalyst mass fraction of 0.8%, reaction time of 8 h, pressure of 1.6 MPa, and temperature of 100 degrees C. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy were used to characterize the hydrogenation product of the protected HTBN, indicating that under certain conditions a high degree of hydrogenation of HTBN can be achieved. Only the carboncarbon double bonds (C=C), not the -CN bonds, are subject to hydrogenation. (C) 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2012