Elmer K. Bolton
Elmer Keiser Bolton (* June 23, 1886 in Frankfort (Pennsylvania), † 30 July 1968 ) was an American chemist. He was Research Director at DuPont and involved in the development of neoprene and conducted the research to the development of nylon at DuPont, the first synthetic fiber.
Life and work
He graduated from Bucknell University in Lewisburg (Pennsylvania) classical languages with the BA degree in 1908 and from Harvard University with the AM 1908 and deer PhD in Organic Chemistry in 1913 at Charles Loring Jackson on quinones. A fellow student and friend was Roger Adams, with whom he kept close contact later. In 1913 he went on a scholarship to Richard Willstätter to Berlin, where he worked on anthocyanins. He was impressed by the close connection between industry and university research in Germany and from the efforts of synthetic rubber herzustellen.1915 he went to DuPont in their research department in Wilmington (Delaware). In the context of the failure of products of organic chemistry from Germany during World War II, he was involved in the efforts in the U.S. to compensate for this and assigned to the group for dye synthesis. In 1919 he conducted the research in organic chemistry and in 1922 the reorganization of research at DuPont for dyes. He extended the but soon afterwards on synthetic rubber made ( in 1923, when Order of the Stevenson Restriction Scheme in the UK), insecticides, antioxidants, disinfectants and of large-scale industrial production of tetraethyl lead.
The efforts to develop synthetic rubber led in 1931 to the development of neoprene (then called Dupren ), but the rubber prices were now fallen with the beginning of the Great Depression again and the new product was no longer competitive. It was selected for its resistance ( chemically or by light ) other applications ( such as rubber boats, diving suits ). The development Julius Arthur Nieuwland was involved (who had developed a copper oxide catalyst for the polymerization of acetylene) and the actual development group headed Wallace Carothers ( with the crucial step of the addition of hydrogen chloride to butadiene over the copper oxide catalyst).
He then conducted the research for the production of a spinnable polymer fiber for clothing. This led the mid-1930s to the development of nylon polyamide-based, in a guided also by William Carothers group. From Bolton comes the decision to start the production of industrially easily accessible benzene chemistry (rather than based on sebacic acid from castor oil ), which resulted in 6-6 nylon ( from the polycondensation of adipic acid with hexamethylene diamine). 1938, the establishment of its own nylon from DuPont factory was decided.
He received the 1954 Willard Gibbs Medal and 1945, the Perkin Medal. Bolton was a member of the National Academy of Sciences ( 1946).
He was married to Marguerite L. Duncan since 1916 and had three children.