Murray Raney

Murray Raney (born October 14, 1885 in Carrollton , Kentucky , † March 3, 1966 ) was an American mechanical engineer. He developed the Raney nickel catalyst named after him , which is often used for hydrogenation .

Life

His parents were William Wallace and Katherine Raney. Without graduating from high school, he attended the University of Kentucky , where he made his bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering in 1909 . He then became a teacher at Eastern Kentucky State Normal College , where he was responsible for the heating and lighting system until 1910. From 1910 to 1911 he worked in the wood grinder room at the Fort Orange Paper Company in Castleton-on-Hudson, New York. In 1911 he moved to Springfield, Illinois to work in the manufacture of steam engines for the AL Ide Engine Company , where he stayed until 1913. That year he moved to his permanent seat in Chattanooga, Tennessee , to work as a power seller with the Chattanooga Railway, Light & Power Co.

In 1915 he joined the Lookout Oil & Refining Company , where he took the position of deputy head of the hydrogen production facility for the hydrogenation of vegetable oil. It was during this time that he began to work on making what would later become known as the Raney catalyst . He left Lookout Oil to take a position as a sales manager at Gilman Paint and Varnish Co. and later became a director of the company. In 1950 he left Gilman Paint and founded the Raney Catalyst Company . He then devoted himself entirely to the production of catalysts. This company was later bought by WR Grace and Company and continues to produce Raney nickel to this day.

Raney married twice, first on June 12, 1920 Katherine Elizabeth Macrae († June 13, 1935), with whom he had a daughter. On March 31, 1939, he married Laura Ogden McClellan († April 13, 1953).

He received an honorary doctorate in 1951 and was a member of the American Chemical Society and the American Oil Chemists Society . He received 6 American and 5 European patents for the development of his catalysts and the metallurgical processes for their preparation.

The evolution of Raney nickel

While at Lookout Oil , Raney was responsible for the production of hydrogen for the hydrogenation of vegetable oils. At that time, a catalyst based on nickel (II) oxide was used for hydrogenation in industry. Believing that better hydrogenation catalysts could be made, Raney began independent research in this area around 1921 - while he was still at Lookout Oil . In 1924 he produced an alloy from nickel - silicon which, after treatment with caustic soda, was five times more active than the best known catalyst for hydrogenating cottonseed oil and received a patent for it in 1925.

In 1926 he produced an alloy of nickel and aluminum , also in a 1: 1 ratio, using a process similar to that used for the nickel-silicon catalyst. This was again more active. He was granted a patent in 1927 for this catalyst, known as the Raney catalyst.

Raney's choice of nickel / aluminum ratio was purely random and without any scientific background. Nevertheless, this composition is still used today. Raney said of it, "I was just lucky ... I came up with an idea for a catalyst and it worked the first time".

The Murray Raney Prize

The Organic Reactions Catalysis Society (ORCS) has been awarding the Murray Raney Prize since 1992 in recognition of achievements in the use of metal sponge catalysts in organic synthesis. The following scientists have received awards so far:

personal data
SURNAME	Raney, Murray
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	American mechanical engineer
DATE OF BIRTH	October 14, 1885
PLACE OF BIRTH	Carrollton , Kentucky
DATE OF DEATH	March 3, 1966