W O R L D WIDE CHEMISTRY C&EN REPORTS: Faraday Society Golden Jubilee
Faraday's Influence Strong on Electrochemistry Golden Jubilee of F a r a d a y Society in London draws l a r g e international attendance LONDON.—Many present-day develop ments in the field of electrochemistry were influenced by the genius of Michael Fara day, said Sir Harold Hartley at the golden jubilee meeting of the Faraday Society, which was held at the Royal Institution April 16 to 18. Helmholtz, in his Fara day Lecture of 1881 pointed out that most startling result of Faraday's laws: "If we accept the hypothesis that the elementary substances are composed of atoms, w e can not avoid concluding that electricity also, positive as well as negative, is divided into elementary portions which behave like atoms of electricity." Thus Faraday's laws had led directly to the conception of the electron. Sir Harold said that despite his many contributions to chemistry Fara day was by nature a physicist. The first day ended with the seventh Spiers Memorial Lecture, on Models and Molecules, by Joel H. Hilclebrand of the University of California. H. S. Taylor of Princeton University and president of the society, said that during its 50 years of existence the society had grown by an "auto-accelerative process," and thought that its future interests would lie particularly in all aspects of radiation and solid state physics. The province of the society is the whole borderland between physics and chemistry and more lately biology. Its usefulness and fame rest on its chief method—the holding of discussion meetings on a particular sub ject. Among these subjects have been the rates and mechanisms of chemical changes, the effect of light on chemical reactions, the properties of solutions and "not quite solutions," the structure in liquids and solids, surface and electrical effects of many kinds, the passage of materials through membranes including those of living cells, and the various methods used by chemists for dealing with unknown materials. These apparently diverse and theoretical discussions are related in practice to such varied materials as jam, soil, and electro plate, and to such objectifs as cracking of petroleum, making of plastics, and under standing the structure of proteins. In recent years the emphasis has shifted to Avhat is fundamental to physical chemistry. Two founder members were present at the 50th anniversary meeting: Sir James Swinburne, now 96, and F. G. Donnan. The present membership of the society is 2200, of whom 600 are from outside of Britain. The meeting was attended by 360 members, 60 of them from 13 overseas countries. Newly elected to life member ship were Niels Bjerrum, W. E. Garner,
Sir Harold Hartley, J. H. Hildebrand, Sir Eric Rideal, and Sir Henry Tizard.
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N o r w a y Increases Use of Local R a w M a t e r i a l s Considerable progress is being made by chemical manufacturers in Norway
with the expansion of production on the basis of indigenous raw materials, and a number of new chemical products are being offered now for the first time. Internationally Norway's chemical in dustry is chiefly renowned for its sub stantial exports of nitrate of lime, cyanamide, and calcium carbide. These prod ucts, together with fatty acids and casein, still account for the bulk of Norway's chemical exports. Favorable trade agree ments, combined with the brisk demand for nitrogenous fertilizers in the world market, have enabled Norway to maintain her chemical sales abroad at a most satis factory level. Her nitrogen production, however, has not increased appreciably in the past few years. Chief export mar-
EMM A Repeating Unit
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INDULIN, an alkali lignin, has a re peating unit with a molecular weight of 840. In each unit there are four active hydroxy! groups, one phenolic and three alcoholic. These groups cause IN DULIN to react like other polyalcohols. That is, INDULIN will esterify and etherify. As a metal salt or in the presence of an acid acceptor, INDULIN will combine with acyl chlorides to esterify with both aliphatic and aromatic acid groups. With some unsaturated acids such as rosin and tall oil INDULIN will esterify directly by simply heating at a tempera ture above 300 °C. In the case of IN DULIN esterification with aliphatic acids which have a straight chain structure containing two to eighteen or more carbon atoms, the melting points will
decrease and the oil solubilities increase with increased chain length. INDULIN, as salts of metals forming insoluble halides, will esterify with alkyl halides; and in the form of soluble alkali salts, INDULIN will react directly with the more active etherifying agents, benzyl and allyl chlorides and diethyl sulfate. INDULIN ethers are characterized by improved solubility in organic solvents, lighter color, and good stability. Remember that INDULIN prices have been reduced up to 331Λ%» when you next consider the use of large molecule material, which can easily be both esterified and etherified. Also remember that INDULIN will give other reactions at the hydroxyl groups worthy of your investi gation. A copy of Bulletin L-6 and samples of INDULIN will be sent upon request.
industrial ΨΝΒΒΒΕΕΒΗΦΕ
C H E M I C A L SALES
division west Virginia pulp a n d p a p e r company Lincobi-Liberty Building Broad & Chestnut Sts. Philadelphia 7, Pa.
New York Central Building 230 Park Ave., New York 17, N.Y. M A Y
18-
1953
Pure Oil Building 35 E. Wacker Dr. Chicago 1, III.
2775 Moreiand Boulevard At Shaker Sq. Cleveland 20, 0. 2105
WORLD WIPE CHEMISTRY kets are Denmark and Sweden; markets farther afield include Egypt, U.S.A., and Spain. Norsk Hydro has now concluded an agreement with the Norwegian govern ment to build a new complete fertilizer plant on the island of Heroya by which the output capacity of the existing plant total production of 175,000 short tons ( Ν ) to 100-150,000 tons a year. At the com pany's Glomfjord plant an improved elec trolytic process is to be introduced with the result of an increase in ammonia pro duction by over one fifth, or about 9000 tons a year. i . . i n amounts larger than ordinarily r e q u i r e d for labora The availability of cheap electric power tory use. But, w e should be happy t o supply this and hun has caused Norsk Hydro to embark on the d r e d s of other " r a r e " o r g a n i c s in m o d e r a t e l y l a r g e quanti construction of an electrothermal phos ties. For information o r a quotation, w r i t e t o Distillation phorus plant with a capacity of about 9500 tons a year. The plant for the production Products Industries, E a s t m a n O r g a n i c C h e m i c a l s D e p a r t of magnesium oxide from seawater started ment, Rochester 3, Ν . Υ . (Division o f Eastman K o d a k in 1951 is now producing at a rate of about C o m p a n y ) . T h e r e are more than 3 5 0 0 r e g u l a r l y supplied 10,000 tons a year. This can be increased to approximately 20,000 tons and plans E a s t m a n O r g a n i c Chemicals for science a n d i n d u s t r y . have been made to increase production of metallic magnesium. Calcium cyanamide is the basis for making dicyandiamide by Odda SmelteAlso . . . vitamins Λ and Έ verk A/S. Urea is being made from ammonia and carbon dioxide at a capacity . . . distilled monoglycerides rate of over 10,000 tons a year. Polyvinyl chloride is also being made in Norway at a rate of approximately 2000 tons from acetylene and hydrochloric acid, and a new thermosetting plastic is being made from fish v/aste by Wm. A. Mohn & Son A/S of Bergen. This protein material is claimed to have electrical properties superior to those of ordinary phenol for maldehyde resins and be equal to ordi M a y b e i t a l l does l o o k p r e t t y m u c h nary molding powders in water resistance t h e s a m e a t first g l a n c e . B u t w h e n and mechanical strength. Cellulose ace a firm h a s b e e n m a k i n g w i r e m e s h tate will shortly be made from highly refined cellulose and acetic acid. for 70 y e a r s m a n a n d b o y , t h e r e ' s b o u n d t o b e a l i t t l e m o r e t o i t t h a n Norway's timber and paper industry pro meets the eye—a little more know-how in engineering and weaving, a vides a huge raw materials potential. A / S little m o r e q u a l i t y i n t h e p r o d u c t , a little m o r e service a n d s a t i s f a c Borregaard of Sarpsborg is greatly extend t i o n for t h e u s e r . ing production of chemicals. The company already produces acetic acid, butyl alcohol JELLIFF W I R E M E S H is w o v e n i n all d u c t i l e m e t a l s and acetate, methyl, amyl, and propyl al JELLIFF WIRE M E S H is woven i n all c o m m e r c i a l weaves cohol, chloroform, and trichloroacetaldehyde as well as wood tar and sulfite alco J E L L I F F W I R E M E S H i s w o v e n i n w i d t h s u p t o 72 i n c h e s hol. To satisfy the needs of the cellulose JELLIFF WIRE MESH is e c o n o m i c a l . Every f o o t r u n s true t o t h e and rayon industries, the output of chlo specifications. rine and caustic soda is to b e raised to 16,000-18,000 tons a year each. Plant is • * * * under construction now for the production J E L L I F F W I R E M E S H i s a q u a l i t y p r o d u c t a n d h a s b e e n f o r 70 of octyl alcohol and dioctyl-phthalate. The production of organic chemicals generally years. Y o u can depend o n i t . is to be increased with a view to providing a more profitable outlet for by-product sul W r i t e t o d a y for f u l l d e t a i l s a b o u t J E L L I F F W I R E M E S H , J E L L I F F fite alcohol, and chlorinated organic WIRE M E S H PRODUCTS, and JELLIFF'S CONSULTATION SERV chemicals are to be made to utilize excess chlorine. A new acetate yarn factory is be ICE o n w i r e - m e s h engineering. Address D e p a r t m e n t 19. ing built which will also make cellophane. At Tosse Fiskemelfabrikk a foam extin guisher is made from fish waste accord ing to a process developed by the Military Defense Research Institute. Γ MFG. CORP. THE Ç.+ ψ ψ
There has been little demand for.. •
p-Aminoacetophenone
WIRE MESH
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DIPPING BASKETS LEKTROMESH . . " ' J - " RESISTANCE WIRE
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C&EN Foreign Correspondent Con tributing t o This Issue:
* STRAINERS - FILTERS*^
CONNECTICUT'
G. ABRAHAMSONT, Norway
2106
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