symposium
Polymer Chemistry in the Undergraduate Curriculum
MAURICE MORTON The University of Akmn Akron, Ohio 44304
".
. .astonishing lack of emphasis. . .
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Focusing attention on the rather remarkable dichotomy which prevails today between the practice of chemistry inside and outside of our institutions of higher learning mas the main objective of a pancl discussion held on September 15, 1967, during the 164th National nleeting of the American Chemical Society a t Chicago. For this panel, which was under the joint sponsolnhip of the Divisions of Chemical Education, Polymer Chemistry, and Plastics and Organic Coating Chcmistry, we were most fortunate in assembling a most eminent group of panelists. They include, as yo11 will note, the imrnediatc Past-President of the kmcricarl Chcmical Society (Professor Overberger) and the President (Dr. Cairns), as well as the Chairman of the Division of Polymer Chemistry (Professor Bailey). Thc concern of this panel today is the astonishing lack of emphasis on macromolecules in the chemistry curricula of our colleges and universities, in sharp contrast to t,he role of polymers in the "chemical world." This is undoubtedly due, a t least in part, to the very rapid rise of the synthetic polymers, especially during the post-war pcriod, as pointed out in the recent Presidential Address of Professor Overberger t o thc American Chemical Society.' There has really been very littlc time for the academic curricula to "catch up" with t,hesc developments. Be that as it may, there is no longer any doubt about thc dominant role of polymers in the chemical industry today, as recent statistics have made amply clear. I t is instructive, in this regard, t o examine two different aspects-the number of chemists in the United States engaged in this activity and the amount of money being invested by industry. Fortunately, such information is nom readily available. The National Chem. Enq. News, October 9, 1967,p. 88. Chcm. Eng. News, June 19, 1967,p. 56. a Chcm. Eng. Alezus, November 22, 1965,p. 7'3.
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Science Foundation has recently published data on the distribution of American chemists by field of a c t i ~ i t y . ~ These data arc shown, in condensed form, in Table 1 and refer only to chemists engaged di~ecll?lmith polymers, i.e., w l ~ ohandle such materials in their daily work. Two important fields are not shown, inorganic and analytical chemistry. I n the case of the former, there appears t o be very little dircct contact mith polymeric materials-although t,he area of "coordination compounds" is listed as one of the largest., comprising over lOy0 of the tot,aI field, and this undoubtcdly involves some work on polymerization catnlysts. As for analytical chemistry, the statistics arc riot broken down by t,ypes of materials but by methods, and it can therefore he assumed that the number of analytical chemists working on polymers can bc prorated as for other fields. I t is obvious from the above data that polymcr chemistry represents by far the largest single field in chemistry. Thus, of the 100,000 chemists in this country, excluding the analytical chemistry group, more than 2.5,000, or over 25y0, are polymer chemists. This is, of course, a very conservative estimate and refers only to the total p~esenlpopulation of chemists. Since this is a rapidly devcloping field in industry today, it is especially not,iceahle in the rrsearch and dcvclopmcrit, divisions. Hence it has been estimated that over 50% of the graduating 1'h.D. chcmist,s today can expect to end up in this field. An even more striking indication of the role of polymers in the chemical industry is given by recent figures on capital inve~t,rnent.~A condensed vcrsion of these statistics is s h o r n in Table 2. Thus, i n 19135, polymcrs represented a rate of expenditure almost equal to that for basic chemicals, while, by 1970, the investEDITOR'S NOTE Maurice Morton is Professor of Polymer Chernist1.y and Director of the Institute of Polymer Scielrre at The IJlliversity of Akron. Dr. Morton obtained his BSc in chemistry a t McGill University in 1934 and his Phl) a t the same universily in 1945. He spent 8 years in the chemical industry in Canada, as Chief Chemist f o ~ .the Canadian Johns-Atanvillo Co., and the Congoleum Canada Cu. I n 1945 he became Iread of the Chemistry 1)epartmenl at Sir George Williams College in Alontreal and a Lecturer at RlcGill University. I n 1948 he joined the University of Akron as Assistant Director of Ilubbe~.Research, becoming Director in 1934, as well as Pmfessor of Polymer Chemistry. He is the editor of "Introdwtian to Rubber Technology," lteinhold Publishing Co., 1959, and is the author of over 40 papers on palymerisation and polymer chemistry, mainly in ihe areas of emulsion polymerization mid anionic polymerization. Ne is a former chairman of the Uivisiuti of Polymer Chemistry of the American Chemical Sorict>-atid of the Committee on Macromolecular Chemistry of the National Research Co~rncil.
Table I .
Polymer Chemists in the United States (1966)
-
No. of Chemists
Field
% of
Field
~
(1) Organic Chemistry Polymers-(Plastics 1$1% Elmtomem 6.6y0, Contmgs 5.070, Fibres 3.575, Celltilose 3.5%. Adhesives 2.4%) (2) Physical Chemistry Polymers-(Polymer 17.6%, colloid 5%) (3) Biochemistry Polymers-(ploteins 14.8%, nueloic acids 7.1% earbo-
Toble 2.
Product Class Basic chemicals Polymers Drugs Agricultnral Specialty Miscellaneous Total
49,800
100
18.300 17,100
37 100
3.900 15,500
22.6 100
Capital Expenditures b y Chemical lndustrv in U S . ---Millions of Dollars--1960 1065 (est.) 1970 (est.) 662 311 113 57 113 301 1,557
860 753 172 104 215 179 2,373
945 1,185 100 135 250 200 2,905
ment in polymers is projected to be the largest in the chemical industry, approximately 40% of the total. This is indeed very convincing evidence of the dominant role which the production of man-made polymers is destined to play in the national chemical picture. All of the above statistics indeed offer convincing evidence that man has now entered a "polymer age," where the amount and variety of synthetic materials can only continue to increase. This, however, does not per se answer the question: does the chemist need special preparation for a career in polymer chemistry? The answer might best be provided on two counts. I n
the first place, the science of chemistry should inherently provide an understanding of man's physical world, and the macromolecule must therefore be rightfully assigned its proper niche in the order of things. Secondly, and perhaps more important, the science of macromolecules has now reached a level of sophistication which does require special study. Although it is an interdisciplinary science, based on the fundamentals of chemistry and physics, it has also developed its own methods and introduced its own novel concepts. As in the case of small molecule chemistry, the ultimate goal is the prediction of chemical behavior from a knowledge of molecular structure. However, in the case of the macromolecule, there is also the exciting challenge to predict the mechanical behavior of the material on a molecular basis, and this requires a sophisticated understanding of the structural features of polymers. Some basic areas of macromolecular science which require a training in special methods can be illustrated. These include the crystalline and amorphous states of polymers, the thermodynamics of polymer solutions, conformational analysis and the configuration of long-chain molecules, molecular theories of rubber elasticity, viscoelasticity, kinetics of chaingrowth reactions, and, last but not least, the effect of molecular configuration on the chemical reactions of large molecules. The latter, of course, encompasses a substantial area of molecular~hiology,e.g., the genetic code. M o d of today's polymer chemists have had to acquire this special understanding largely through their own efforts by means of a rather painful process of many years' duration. I t is now imperative that the chemistry student be provided with this knowledge, first on a n introductory basis in his undergraduate years, which could then lead him to choose polymer chemistry as his field of specialization in graduate school.
A N e w Graduate Level Examination in Organic Chemistry The Examinations Committee of the Division of Chemical Education has released for fall testing a new examinat,ion in organic chemistry, Graduate Placement Form 1968-0. Theexamination, consisting of seventy multipl~chaicequestions, has been prepared by the Graduate Level Organic Sub-committee consisting of E. L. Eliel (chairman), R. L. Autrey, J. F. Bunnett, P. Hawkins, R. G. Hiskey, E. Huyser, 1%.G. Kuivils, R. E. Silker, and C. A. VanderWerf. The purpose of the examination is to test the undergraduate preparation in organic chemistry of students entering graduate schools in chemist,ry. In many graduate departmends offering the P h D degree the examination is used for purposes of graduate placement. Previous graduate level examinations in organic chemist,ry were prepared in 1963 and 1961 by committees under the chairmanship of J. F. Bunnett. The new examination differs from its predecessors mainly by including material, especially in the areas of synthesis, mechanism, and spectroscopic identification, which has become important in the last four years in a modern undergraduate course inorganic chemistry, as emphasized by current text books. A key of the distribution of the questions among the major areas of organic chemistry (nomenclature, physical and spectral properties, structure ident,ification, synthesis, mechanism and theory, and stereachemistry) is furnished with the examinations. A confidential sample copy may be requested over the signalure of the Head or Chairman of a department offering the P h D degree by writing to Dr. T. A. Ashford, Chairman, Examinations Committee, University of Sooth Florida, Tampa, Florida. 33620. Volume 45, Number 8, August 1968
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