Elmer K. Bolton
Elmer Keizer Bolton (born June 23, 1886 in Frankfort (Pennsylvania) , † July 30, 1968 ) was an American chemist. He was director of research at DuPont and was involved in the development of neoprene and led research into nylon development at DuPont, the first synthetic fiber.
life and work
He studied classical languages at Bucknell University in Lewisburg (Pennsylvania) with a BA degree in 1908 and at Harvard University with an AM in 1908 and a doctorate in organic chemistry in 1913 under Charles Loring Jackson on quinones . A fellow student and friend was Roger Adams , with whom he later kept in close contact. In 1913 he went on a scholarship to Richard Willstätter in Berlin, where he worked on anthocyanins . He was impressed by the close connection between industrial research and the university in Germany and by the efforts made to manufacture synthetic rubber. In 1915 he joined DuPont in their research department in Wilmington (Delaware) . As part of the failure of products of organic chemistry from Germany during the First World War, he was involved in efforts in the USA to compensate for this and assigned to the group for dye syntheses. In 1919 he headed research in organic chemistry and in 1922 in the reorganization of research at DuPont for dyes. However, he soon extended this to synthetic rubber (1923, as a result of the Stevenson Restriction Scheme in Great Britain), insecticides, antioxidants , disinfectants and the industrial production of tetraethyl lead .
Efforts to develop synthetic rubber led to the development of neoprene (then called dupren) in 1931 , but rubber prices had fallen again with the beginning of the Great Depression and the new product was no longer competitive. However, because of its resistance (chemical and light) it found other applications (such as rubber boats, diving suits). Julius Arthur Nieuwland was involved in the development (who had developed a copper oxide catalyst for the polymerization of acetylene) and the actual development group was headed by Wallace Carothers (with the crucial step of adding hydrogen chloride to butadiene via the copper oxide catalyst).
He then directed research into the manufacture of a spinnable polymer fiber for clothing. This led to the development of polyamide- based nylon in the mid-1930s , in a group also led by William Carothers. Bolton made the decision to base production on industrially accessible benzene chemistry (instead of sebacic acid from castor oil ), which resulted in 6-6 nylon (from the polycondensation of adipic acid with hexamethylenediamine ). In 1938 DuPont decided to found its own nylon factory.
He received the Willard Gibbs Medal in 1954 and the Perkin Medal in 1945 . Bolton was a member of the National Academy of Sciences (1946).
He had been married to Margarite L. Duncan since 1916 and had three children.
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| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Bolton, Elmer K. |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Bolton, Elmer Keizer |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | American chemist |
| DATE OF BIRTH | June 23, 1886 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Frankfort, Pennsylvania |
| DATE OF DEATH | July 30, 1968 |