Hewa-THaue** George T. Felbeck, vice president of Carbide & Carbon Chemicals Corp., N e w Y o r k , has been given the John Wesley Hyatt Award for the year 1948 b y the Society of Plastics Industry. The award is bestowed in recognition of distinguished a c h i e v e m e n t in plastics, and Dr. Felbeck was cited for " t h e development of a process for t h e manufacture of polvethylene rosins and plastics." Recent appointments t o the staff of the research and development division of Pittsburgh Consolidation Coal Co., Pittsburgh, Pa., include Donald F . Ailes, chemist, from Chesapeake and Ohio Railroad Co.; and W i l l i a m D. H a r b e r t , process engineer in t h e research d e p a r t ment, from Lion Oil Co. T h e follow ing have joined the d e v e l o p m e n t d e p a r t ment as chemical engineers: Thomas J. Regan, Joseph E . Jewett, Jr., and Herbert Kay. J. H. Babcock, formerly manager of d e v e l o p m e n t and research at Hooker Electro chemical Co., N i agara Falls, Ν . Υ., has been named director in full charge of activities of that depart ment. H e has been engaged in develop ment and research work since 1933. Kenneth W. Β ay h a has been transferred by Commercial Sol vents Corp. from Terre H a u t e to the San Francisco office to do tech nical service on t h e West Coast.
doctoral fellow, to accept a postdoctoral fellowship at the University of Roch ester, in N e w York. Edwin J. Cohn, professor of biological chemistry in the H a r v a r d Medical School a n d chairman of t h e division of medical sciences in t h e faculty of arts and sciences, has b e e n chosen one of four scholars a t H a r v a r d t o hold a u n i versity professorship, a n d t o work on the frontiers of knowledge. H e is the first scientist t o hold this kind of a professor ship, in which he will b e free of obliga tion to a n y individual school or depart ment within the university. He will continue to d o research in physical bio chemistry. H. J . Deuel, Jr., head of the de p a r t m e n t of bio chemistry and nu trition at the Uni versity of South ern California, has been appointed dean of t h e gradu a t e school. He succeeds E m o r y S. J. Deuel, Jr. Bogardus, w ho will reach retirement age Aug. 31 after 38 y ears on t h e faculty. T h o m a s F . Doum a n i of the Union Oil Co. of Cali fornia research de partment has been elected editor of SCALACS, South ern C a l i f o r n i a ACS Section p u b lication. H e suc ceeds K e n n e t h D . 7 . F. Doumani K a h n , who was r e cently killed in an automobile accident. Milton Feier has joined t h e Panray Corp. of New York t o be in charge of the newly established quartzware de partment. He comes from Kolker Chemical Corp. and Tennessee Products and Chemical Corp.
Charles C. Clark has been appointed director of chemical research of M a t h i e son Chemical Corp., John W . Churchill, assistant director o f chemical research in charge of organic research, and J o h n F . H aller assistant director of chemical research in charge o f inorganic research. T h e i r headquarters will continue to be a t the research laboratories of the com p a n y in Niagara Falls, Ν . Υ.
Karl Folkers, director of re search of Merck & Co., Inc., Rahway, N . J., has been chosen t o deliver the Harrison H o w e lecture next fall before t h e Roches ter Section, ACS.
Carl J. Clans has left the University Minnesota, where h e was a post
J a m e s F o r r e s t a l , for the past year general manager of t h e Ozalid division
of
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of General Aniline & F i l m Corp., h a s been elected vice president of t h e c o m pany, in charge of b o t h t h e Ansco a n d Ozalid divisions. H e succeeds E . A. Williford, resigned. Giles E . H o p kins has been m a d e technical d i rector of t h e Wool Bureau, I n c . , N e w York, and will conduct a b r o a d scale research p r o gram with e m p h a sis o n wool fiber and the correla tion and i n t e r p r e t a t i o n of laboratory r e search for t h e manufacturing elements of the wool textile industry. R i c h a r d R. H u g h e s has joined the en gineering d e p a r t m e n t of Shell D e v e l o p ment Co., San Francisco, a s an engineer in the chemical engineering section. H e has just completed work toward a n Sc.D. in chemical engineering at Massachusetts I n s t i t u t e of Technology. Charles Glen King, scientific director of the N u t r i t i o n F o u n d a t i o n , N e w York, and professor of chemistry at C o l u m b i a University, has been appointed a m e m ber of the 11-man Agricultural Research Policy C o m m i t t e e under the Research and M a r k e t i n g Act of 1946. H e replaces F r a n k B . Jewett, who recently resigned because of ill health. Sidney D. K i r k p a t r i c k , editor of Chemical Engineering, has been elected a vice president of the McGraw-Hill Book Co., New York. H e has been a director s i n c e 1936. As vice president and director of editor ial development, he will b e respon sible for t h e ediS torial planning and · D« Kirkpatrick public relations activities formerly car ried on b y J. S. T h o m p s o n , vice chair m a n of t h e board until his recent retire m e n t . M r . Kirkpatrick will also con tinue as editor of Chemical Engineering. W . E. Kunz, who recently w a s given the degree of doctor of technical science at the Swiss Federal I n s t i t u t e of T e c h nology, has joined Imperial Chemical Industries in E n g l a n d a s organic r e search officer. E a r l T . McBee, professor of chemis try a t P u r d u e University, L a f a y e t t e . I n d . , has become head of the d e p a r t m e n t of chemistry. H e succeeds H e n r y B . H a s s , recently resigned t o join G e n e r a l Aniline & Film C o r p . R o b e r t L. Moore, who h a s recently been m a d e director of research and p r o d AND
ENGINEERING
NEWS
net development for the United States Asbestos Division of Raybestos-Manhattan, Inc., at Manheim, Pa., was er roneously announced as the director of research and product development for Raybestos-Manhattan, Inc., in these col umns on May 2. Charles S. Munson, chairman of the board of Air Reduction Co., Inc., has been made chairman of the chemicals division of the Greater New York Fund's industry and manufacturing oection. This fund is soliciting for sharing the cost of maintaining hospitals and health and social service agencies throughout the five boroughs of New York. Maxwell J. Richards has been named research assistant on the staff of the Georgia Institute of Technology Engi neering Experiment Station's technical information division. He comes from International Minerals & Chemical Corp. An honorary degree of doctor of science will be conferred on Wortley F. Rudd, dean emeritus of the Medical Col lege of Virginia School of Pharmacy at commencement exercises of the college in June. Dr. Rudd retired in 1947 after 27 years of service. E. L. Schumann, who recently ob tained a Ph.D. in organic chemistry at the University of Michigan, has joined the research laboratories of the Wm. S. Merrell Co., Cincinnati, Ohio. Ralph P. Stilphen, who comes from the firm of France, Campbell & Darling, Inc., has joined Diamond Alkali Co., Cleveland, Ohio, as a special technical sales and service representative for the protective coating field.
NOW commercially available!
TETRAHYDROFURAN PowerfulsVersatile
USEFUL IN FABRIC COATINGS, SYN SOLVENT FOR RESINS, PLASTICS, AND RUBBERS Rosin Esier gum Manila-copal Shellac Cellulose acetate Cellulose acetatebutyrate Ethyl cellulose Nitrocellulose Many vinyl chloride copolymers Polyvinyl acetals Polyvinyl butyral Vinylidene chloride copolymers
The retirement of J. P. Williams, Jr., chairman of the board of Koppers Co., Inc., Pittsburgh, has been announced. He has been with the company and its predecessors since 1920. VOLUME
2 7,
NO.
22 •
·
Polyvinyl chloride Acrylic resins Polystyrene Alkyd resins .Coumarone resins Oil-soluble phenolic resins Alcohol-soluble phenolic resins Urea-formaldehyde resins Neoprene Thiokols Masticated rubber Chlorinated rubber
SOLVENT FOR NONRESINOUS MATERIALS
1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 Β
THETIC FIBER MANUFACTURE, FILM CASTING, LACQUERS, ADHESIVES Tetrahydrofuran is an outstanding solvent for many natural and syn thetic resins, yielding solutions of unusually high solids contents at practical working viscosities. This solvent makes easy work of dissolv ing many hard-to-handle plastics, such as high molecular weight vinyl chloride and vinylidene chloride co polymers, whose uses have been re stricted by the difficulty of getting them into solution.
PHYSICAL PROPERTIES
T e t r a h y d r o f u r a n is m i s c i b l e w i t h water, drying oils, and practically a l l organic solvents. T h e extraordinarily wide range o f nonresinous organic materials which i t dissolves and its ether structure suggest its use a s a reaction medium for chemical proc esses. F o r example, tetrahydrofuran is a n excellent m e d i u m in which to carry out Grignard reactions.
Max H. Thorn ton has been ap pointed chairman of the chemical research division at Midwest Res e a r c h Institute, Kansas City, Mo. He has been a member of the staff since 1945 and is widely known for his work in fats, oils, and glucosides. The 1948 James Turner Morehead Medal of the International Acetylene Association has been awarded to Her man Van Fleet of Air Reduction Co. He was cited for his leadership and direction in the production of acetylene and oxygen and in the development of equipment for their use.
Solvent
Appearance Colorless, mobile liquid Odor Ether-like Molecular Weight 72.10 Freezing Point — 108°C. Boiling Point 65.4°C. at 760 mm. Specific Gravity, 20 4 0.888 Index of Refraction, N20/D 1.4073 Flash Point . , -20°C. Vapor Pressure 25°C 176 mm. 45°C 385 mm. 65°C 760 mm. Solubility... .Miscible with water and most common organic solvents.
APPLICATIONS AS A CHEMICAL INTERMEDIATE Chemical reactions of this compound a r e those of a n aliphatic ether modi fied b y its cyclic nature. A few of t h e reaction products are shown below to illustrate the versatility of tetrahydrofuran as a chemical intermediate. 2 . 3 - Dichlorotetrahydrofuran 1,4-Dichlorobutane
r 4-Chlorobutanol-l
\
1,4-ButanediolDiacetate
H
Tetrahydrothiophene
2? " TETRAHYDROFURAN
Pyrrolidine
Butyrolactone Succinic
Acid
N-Alkyl and N-Aryl Pyrrolidines' Polymers
Copolymers with Ethylene Oxide and Propylene Oxide
A request on your company let terhead will bring a copy of R e vised Technical Bulletin No. 4, price information, and also a sample if desired. Limited commercial quantities a r e pres ently available. E . I. d u P o n t de Nemours & Co. (Inc.), Electrochemicals Dept. T Field Research Section, Wilmington 98, ^Delaware.
» » MA Y
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1949
DU PONT ELECTROCHEMICALS FIILD
RESEARCH
SECTION
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Tilings for totter living . . . Through Chmmhfry
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