J. F. Hyde receives 1971 Perkin Medal
ADDITION A N D CONDENSATION POLYMERIZATION PROCESSES ADVANCES IN CHEMISTRY NO. 91 Forty-eight papers from a symposium sponsored by the Division of Industrial and Engineering Chemistry of the American Chemical Society, chaired by Norbert Platzer. Molecular engineering strikes the new note in polymer synthesis as man's ability to manipulate molecules matures. Forty-eight papers discuss the three key vectors in studies on addition and condensation polymerization: Molecular structure • free radical polymers • block and random copolymers • graft polymerization and internal crosslinking Process kinetics • free radical polymerization in bulk, solution, suspension, and emulsion • radiation-induced, anionic, and cationic polymerization • use of complex catalysts Performance characteristics • high strength, toughness, light weight, and heat resistance • non-flammable plastics • polymers with modified surfaces 765 pages with index. Cloth bound (1969) $19.50. Free set of L. C. cards with library orders upon request. Postpaid in U.S. and Canada; plus 30 cents elsewhere. Order from Special Issues Sales American Chemical Society 1 1 5 5 Sixteenth St., N.W. Washington, D.C. 2 0 0 3 6
20 C&EN MARCH 1, 1971
Research on silicones led to founding of Dow Corning and inauguration of silicone industry After 40 years in silicone research, Dr. James Franklin Hyde may perhaps be excused for placing silicon smack-dab at the axis of an oval periodic chart he has designed. In fact, the work done over that period by the Dow Corning chemist and recipient of the 1971 Perkin Medal has done much to elevate silicon's status among the elements important in chemical synthesis. Today, Dow Corning alone offers hundreds of chemical entities based on silicon; C&EN estimates that the U.S. market for silicones is about $180 million; and the potential for siliconbased polymers, in Dr. Hyde's opinion, has hardly been tapped. Frank Hyde went to work for Corning Glass in 1930, after earning his Ph.D. at Illinois under Roger Adams and working as a postdoctoral student under James B. Conant at Harvard. At the time, Corning didn't list a single organic chemist on its professional roster, but the company had begun to be troubled by the thought that thennew transparent plastics might pose a threat to its glass markets. Founding. Starting from scratch, Dr. Hyde organized an organic laboratory and began evaluating plastics such as the polyvinyl acetates and polyvinyl chlorides. And, more important, he began the long-range research on silicones that was to lead to the founding of a company, Dow Corning, and the advent of an industry, silicones. Frank Hyde is meticulously quick to note that "silicones" really aren't; that is, the double-bonded silicon-oxygen linkage analogous to the carbon-oxygen ketonic linkage does not exist in silicones, making the name a sort of convenient mistake. He still prefers to call such polymers organopolysiloxanes. Such fastidiousness has been coupled with Dr. Hyde's keen insight into the commercial potential of silicones. By 1935, Corning Glass was in hot pursuit of technical applications for its glass fiber technology; thermally stable insulating tape for electrical use seemed a natural, but no thermally
stable polymer was available to coat the tape and fill the interstices among the glass fibers. Dr. Hyde went to work on the problem and, with the onset of World War II, soon gained a powerful ally in Rear Adm. (then Cmdr.) Hyman Rickover. Cmdr. Rickover was interested in thermally stable insulation for submarine electric motors capable of operating at 250° C. or higher. By running at higher temperatures, such motors could be smaller and still deliver the required horsepower. Out of Dr. Hyde's research and the Navy's need, Dow Corning was formed on a handshake in 1942. Dow Chemical had the magnesium and the halide intermediates necessary for Dr. Hyde's Grignard synthesis of the silicones Cmdr. Rickover wanted. Cmdr. Rickover, in turn, could get the steel and other materials Dow Corning needed to build its first silicone plant in Midland, Mich. Sealing. Ironically, the Navy never bought a motor incorporating Dow Corning silicones for use on World War II subs. The first product to emerge from Dow Corning was a sealing compound for use in spark plug wells on Air Force planes to prevent arcing under high-altitude, high-humidity conditions found over the North Atlantic and North Sea. Submarine motors using the tape coating were running on test pads in Midland at the war's end and ran on, alternating direction every 15 seconds to increase heat buildup, until the mid-sixties when they were finally shut down and junked. Although now past the retirement age of 65, Dr. Hyde continues to work in Midland as senior scientist in Dow Coming's R&D department. Though he enjoys the simple pleasures afforded by Midland's rural surroundings, Frank Hyde—more than most— is a man inseparable from his work. The story of the silicone industry comes very close to being his story, and Dr. Hyde seems eager to continue into the indefinite future his efforts to chip away at the unknowns surrounding silicone chemistry. Already, Dr. Hyde notes, beginning with relatively few structural building components, silicones have been made which range from low-viscosity fluids to materials that cure to very rigid solids. In the future, Dr. Hyde believes that an almost infinite number of structures— and uses—are possible.
