John Thomas (chemist, 1886)

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John Thomas (born April 2, 1886 in Whitford (Flintshire) , † January 18, 1933 in Wilmslow near Manchester ) was a Welsh chemist.

Life

Thomas grew up as the son of a blacksmith in Harlech , left school at the age of 12 and worked for a mineral water company. His former teacher and employer, however, recognized his talent and enabled further school attendance with a scholarship . He graduated from the University College of Wales at Aberystwyth with a bachelor's degree with top marks in 1907 and a master's degree from JJ Sudborough in 1908 and then on an 1851 Exhibition Scholarship to Cambridge University , where he won a prize in chemistry (Gordan Wigan Prize) . There he dealt with organic chemistry and was a student of William Jackson Pope . From 1911 he was a research chemist at the National Physical Laboratory in Teddington in the aviation section. In 1912 he came to the Nobel Explosives Co. in Ardeer (Scotland) . His research on explosives beyond the usual stability range earned him a D.Sc. from the University of Wales, which was considered a rare honor for industrial chemists. Soon after, he was chief chemist at the newly formed Solvay Dyes Corp. with plants in Carlisle and Grangemouth . When the company became Scottish Dyes Ltd. was converted, he was there director and in 1923 managing director. When the company was incorporated into the company complex when Imperial Chemical Industries (ICI) was founded in 1926, he became one of the Managing Directors (Joint Managing Directors) of ICI.

In 1920 he developed the important green dye Caledone Jade Green , an indanthrone dye (dimethoxydibenzanthrone). Although he and his colleagues had little experience in the field of dyes, they developed with it and other dyes (such as the blue dye Caledon Blue RC, which belongs to the group of anthraquinone dyes ), a serious competition to the overpowering German paint industry. He was involved in 160 English patents.

In 1915 he married Olive Morgan and had a son and two daughters with her.

He is not to be confused with the British chemist John Meurig Thomas .

literature

  • Winfried R. Pötsch (lead), Annelore Fischer, Wolfgang Müller: Lexicon of important chemists , Harri Deutsch 1989, p. 421
  • R. Brightman: John Thomas 1886-1933, J. Chem. Soc., 1934, pp. 565-567

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Thomas, John
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Welsh chemist
DATE OF BIRTH April 2, 1886
PLACE OF BIRTH Whitford (Flintshire)
DATE OF DEATH January 18, 1933
Place of death Wilmslow