Herman Pines

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Herman Pines (born January 17, 1902 in Łódź , Russia , † April 10, 1996 in San Rafael , California ) was a Polish- American chemist . He is best known for his improvements in the production of high octane fuels .

Life

As a young man, Pines left his Polish homeland (then part of Russia) because he feared that he would not be able to pursue a career in science as a Jew. He obtained a degree in chemical engineering from the École Supérieure de Chimie Industrielle in Lyon (today École supérieure de chimie, physique, électronique de Lyon ) in 1927 and a Ph.D. in 1935 from the University of Chicago with his thesis A study of the electronegativities of organic radicals . in organic chemistry . In 1928 (or 1930) he emigrated to the United States and from 1930 worked for Universal Oil Products (now UOP LLC ) in Chicago , where he met Vladimir Ipatyev , also of Russian descent , whose assistant he became and with whom he was a 22-year-old scientific Cooperation connected.

In 1941, Pines received a research professorship at Northwestern University in Evanston , Illinois, in addition to his work for UOP . After Ipatiev's death in 1952, Pines left UOP in 1953 to devote himself entirely to his university research work - now as Ipatieff Research Professor for Chemistry and Director of the Ipatieff High Pressure and Catalytic Laboratory . In 1970 he retired , but was still scientifically active until a few months before his death.

Pines was married with one daughter.

Act

Together with Vladimir Ipatyev, Pines developed a catalytic process in the 1930s to produce fuels with a high octane number at low temperatures and under the action of sulfuric acid from gaseous components of petroleum ( isobutane and certain olefins ) (see petroleum refinery #Alkylation ). Another process developed by Pines is the catalytic conversion of n -butane into isobutane. The American side kept the proceedings secret. The fuels, however, were made available to the allies in World War II and are said to have given the Royal Air Force advantages in the Battle of Britain . Another important wartime activity of Pines was the chemical analysis of the fuels of downed German aircraft. His contribution to the Allied victory over Nazi Germany made Pines proud, especially since his mother and three brothers were believed to have been murdered in the Holocaust .

Pines' later work also dealt with the heterogeneous catalysis of hydrocarbons . The catalytic conversion of paraffins into isoparaffins is considered to be one of the cornerstones of the petroleum industry .

Pines published approximately 265 scientific papers and held 145 patents .

Writings (monographs)

  • Base-Catalyzed Reactions of Hydrocarbons and Related Compounds , 1977
  • The Chemistry of Catalytic Hydrocarbon Conversions , 1981
  • Genesis and Evolution of the Ipatieff Catalytic Laboratories at Northwestern University, 1930-1970 , 1992

Awards (selection)

The Catalysis Club of Chicago has been presenting the Herman Pines Award in Catalysis since 1999 , which is sponsored by UOP . Tobin Marks is one of the winners .

Sources and References

Obituaries

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ A study of the electronegativities of organic radicals. WorldCat (worldcat.org); accessed on January 12, 2014.
  2. ^ Ernest Guenther Award in the Chemistry of Natural Products at the American Chemical Society (acs.org); accessed on January 10, 2014
  3. ↑ George A. Olah Award in Hydrocarbon or Petroleum Chemistry from the American Chemical Society (acs.org); accessed on January 10, 2014.
  4. ^ Chemical Pioneer Award Winners at the American Institute of Chemists (theaic.org); accessed on January 10, 2014.
  5. ^ EV Murphree Award in Industrial and Engineering Chemistry from the American Chemical Society (acs.org); accessed on January 10, 2014.
  6. ^ Herman Pines Award in Catalysis at the Catalysis Club of Chicago (catalysisclubchicago.org); accessed on January 10, 2014.
personal data
SURNAME Pines, Herman
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Polish-American chemist
DATE OF BIRTH January 17, 1902
PLACE OF BIRTH Łódź , Russia
DATE OF DEATH April 10, 1996
Place of death San Rafael , California