November 1, 1914.] 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



i,7 



What the Rubber Chemists Are Doing. 



SYNTHETIC RUBBER. 



IN the September number of this journal an article appeared 

 entitled "War Prices Will Start Synthesists Vgain." While 

 there an- no direct results in ilt i > line from the war. yet unite 

 a huh has been done lately, and the remarks of Sir William 

 Crooks a short while ago in his presidential address, delivered 

 before the Society of Chemical industry, show that this eminent 

 authority recognizes the value of the scientific work done in thi ^ 

 line. Dr. Crooks said in part: "Recent work .m the synthesis of 

 rubber has attracted much attention and notable advances havi 

 been made. As long ago as 1882 Tilden noticed that isoprene 

 was converted into rubber bj certain chemical reagents; ten years 

 later he showed that this product was capable of vulcanization. 

 Subsequent work led to the recognition of the fact that mosl 

 substances containing a conjugated double linkage tend to 

 polymerize, the polymers ranging from stickj substances through 

 well-defined rubbers to hard resins. Polymerization may be 

 spontaneous or it may be brought about by reagents, acids or 

 alkalies, by heat or by sunlight." 



In 1908, C. Harries and F. E. Matthews simultaneously dis- 

 covered that metallic sodium is an excellent reagent for the 

 polymerization of isoprene. The action is practically quantitative 

 and not affected by impurities. Moreover, it takes place in the 

 cold or by only moderate heating. 



Professor Marries showed that a superior product could be 

 obtained by the polymerization of butadiene. Research showed 

 that isoamyl-alcohol obtained from fusel oil was a most suitable 

 material to work on. By means of drj hydrochloric acid gas it 

 was converted into chloride, then chlorinated to give the double 

 chloride, from which the hydrochloric acid was eliminated by 

 passing ovei hot soda lime. The isoprene so formed was then 

 sealed up with 3 per cent, thin sodium wire and heated for sev- 

 eral days to 60 degrees. The dark brown product thus formed 

 was treated with acetone to precipitate the rubber. To obtain 

 the fusel oil Fernbach has worked out a new process of fer- 

 mentation starting with starch. 



Holt has recently made some valuable discoveries relating to 

 the manufacture of isoprene from the pentanes found in petro- 

 leum oil, and the preparation of butadiene from benzine or 

 phenol, tetra hydro-benzine being formed as an intermediate 

 product. He has also observed that when isoprene is treated 

 with sodium in an atmosphere of carbonic acid gas it gives quite 

 different products from those obtained by the same action in air. 



Recent work shows that all synthetic caoutchoucs differ chem- 

 ically from the natural rubber. Physicallj thej are only equal 

 to medium grade natural rubbers 



The above indicates that the most eminent chemists think com- 

 mercial synthetic rubber within the range of probability, though 

 it has not yet arrived 



TWO PATENTS CONTROLLING THE USE OF ANILINE DYES IN 



RUBBER 



On October 13, 1914. the United States Patent Office is- 

 sued two patents covering the use of aniline dyes in any 

 rubber compound which is to be afterwards hot cured. 

 The first of these. No. 1.113.614. is issued to Kurt Gotleib, 

 and the second. Xo. 1,113.759, is issued to Rudolph Ditniar. 

 both of whom assigned their patents to the Bayer Co., of 

 Elberfeld. 



It is rather curious that these two patents should be 

 identical in wording throughout except in mentioning dif- 

 ferent dyes, and that both should be issued while one con- 

 trols the other. One covers organic dyes and the other 

 organic vat dyes. 



In The India Rubber World of Februarj last mention 

 was 11 .1.1. oi some work contributed h\ Ditmar on the use 



of dyes of this class which these patents now 



Should these claims be upheld they would cover the entire 

 field of the use ol organic dyes which can be mixed in 

 while compounding and will stand the vulcanizing tempera 

 ture, and no colored rubber made in this way could be put 

 on the market without the consent of the patentees. It 

 would appear, however, that the us t . of these dyes in this 

 way has been known befon 



Referring to the 1909 Edition of Pearson's "Crude Rub 

 ber ami Compounding Ingredients" we find on page 173 

 the following: "These aniline colors being soluble in ben 

 zinc can be mixed right with the india rubber. If the 

 product be cured in open steam heat with sulphur 

 curious effects are likely to be obtained." Ibis certainly 

 discloses a method of mixing organic dyes and sulphur 

 with rubber and curing with open steam heat. 



SOMI OTHER RUBB1 R P \l 1 NTS 



United States Patent Xo. 1,113,630 has been issued to 

 Fritz Hoffman, who assigns to the Bayer Co., of Elberfeld, 



This claims the production Ol caoutchouc by polymerizing 

 butadiene with una. 



David Spence and William F. Russell have just 



granted United States Patent Xo. 1,112,938 which claims 



the use of metallic or caustic alkali metals for improving 

 the qualities of low grade rubbers. The patent is assigned 

 to the Goodrich company. This corresponds to the British 

 patent Xo. 17.00/" for the same thing. 



The use of sodium or other alkaline metal for the pol) 

 merization of isoprene according to the Harries method is 

 ot course well known, but it has hitherto not been applied 

 to the improvement of low grade natural rubbers. Tin 

 of an alkaline earth has been proposed man) times for de- 

 resinating low grade rubbers and it will dissolve many 

 resins. 



The use of the metals or their derivatives is also claimed 

 to improve reclaimed rubber. Of course it would not seem 

 that the Use of caustic soda on a rubber reclaimed by th( 

 alkali process could have any further effect than the alkali 

 with which it was reclaimed, but the use of metallic soda 

 might affect it favorably. With the increasing production 

 of plantation rubber the low grades ami their improvement 

 will become of less importance. 



GERMAN RUBBER CHEMIST ARRESTED IX RUSSIA 



Like all other "hostile aliens" the lot of the chemist 

 caught in foreign countries now at war is a hard one and 

 subject to clangers from the hysterical condition of the 

 peopb. An English journal states that a German chi 

 at Petrograd. named Keller, who was employed by the 

 Russian American India Rubber Co.. has been arrested. 

 It is reported that a few months ago wholesale cases of 

 mysterious poisoning occurred in various works in Petro- 

 grad and elsewhere in a number of rubber plants. \ search 

 of Keller's lodgings is said to have disclosed compromising 

 papers and chemical compounds producing effects similar 

 to those experienced by the workmen wdio were poisoned. 



The probabilities are that the subtle police have got hold 

 of his compounding formulas for- rubber and. as i 

 seem mysterious, they are likely to be regarded as - 

 strange poison intended to exterminate the entire Russian 

 nation: and probably the unhappy chemist will prove an- 

 other victim to the excited state of the public mind in these 

 times of war. 



