Process of preparing stabilized polychloroprene latex

A process of preparing a polychloroprene latex, which process comprises polymerizing chloroprene in an alkaline aqueous emulsion in the presence of an emulsifying system comprising from about 1.8 to 3 percent of rosin derivatives and from about 0.1 to 1 percent of a member selected from the class consisting of a fatty acid and an alkali salt of said acid, and a free radical catalyst, said emulsion also containing from about 0.2 to 4 parts by weight, per 100 parts of initial chloroprene monomer, of a sulfonamide which is water-insoluble, soluble in chloroprene, non-hydrolyzable in caustic soda, said sulfonamide being of the general formula:

• ##STR2## in which:
• R.sub.1 represents a member selected from the group consisting of a C.sub.3 -C.sub.18 alkyl or alkenyl radical, an aryl radical, an arylalkyl radical, and an aryl or alkyl group bound by a heteroatom selected from the class consisting of oxygen, nitrogen, and sulfur, R.sub.2 and R.sub.3 represent a member selected from the class consisting of hydrogen, a C.sub.1 -C.sub.12 alkyl or alkenyl radical, an aryl radical, an arylalkyl radical, and an aryl or alkyl group bound by a heteroatom selected from the class consisting of oxygen, nitrogen, and sulfur, with the conditions that (1) if R.sub.2 .dbd.R.sub.3 .dbd.H the carbon in .alpha.-position of the --SO.sub.2 -- group must be substituted by at least one group having a positive inductive effect, and (2) if R.sub.2 .dbd.H, R.sub.3, being an alkyl group, must have at least two carbon atoms in the event that R.sub.1 does not have groups with positive inductive effect on the carbon in .alpha.-position of the --SO.sub.2 -- group of the amide.