Arnold M. Collins

Arnold Miller Collins (1899-1982) was a chemist at DuPont who, working under Elmer Bolton and Wallace Carothers with Ira Williams, first isolated polychloroprene and 2-chloro-1, 3-butadiene in 1930.[1]

Personal

Born 1899. Married Helen Clark Collins. Died October 8, 1982.[2]

Education

Collins attended Columbia College, graduating in 1921 with the AB degree.[3]

Doctoral degree. Columbia College 1924. His dissertation was entitled "Electrolytic introduction of alkyl groups", Columbia University, New York, New York.[4]

Career

At Dupont, Collins worked under Wallace Carothers. Carothers assigned Collins to produce a sample of divinylacetylene.[5] In March 1930, while distilling the products of the acetylene reaction, Collins obtained a small quantity of an unknown liquid, which he put aside in stoppered test tubes. He later found that the liquid had congealed into a clear homogeneous mass. When Collins removed the mass from the test tube, it bounced. Further analysis showed that the mass was a polymer of chloroprene, formed with chlorine from the cuprous chloride catalyst. Collins had stumbled upon a new synthetic rubber.[6]

Following this breakthrough, DuPont began to manufacture its first artificial rubber, DuPrene, in September 1931. In 1936, it was renamed neoprene a term to be used generically.[7]

Awards and Recognitions

References

  1. ^ "A crucial breakthrough came when Dr. Arnold M. Collins (1899-1982) isolated chlorophene and 2-chloro-1, 3-butadiene in 1930". Retrieved 18 August 2017.[dead link]
  2. ^ "The News Journal from Wilmington, Delaware". October 12, 1982. Retrieved 25 August 2017.
  3. ^ Catalogue of the Officers and Students of Columbia College, for the Year 1921. Columbia College (New York, N.Y.): D. Van Nostrand. 1921. p. 293.
  4. ^ A List of American Doctoral Dissertations Printed in 1924. U.S. Government Printing Office. 1924. p. 31. Retrieved 25 August 2017.
  5. ^ Wallace H. Carothers, Ira Williams, Arnold M. Collins, and James E. Kirby (1937). "Acetylene Polymers and their Derivatives. II. A New Synthetic Rubber: Chloroprene and its Polymers". J. Am. Chem. Soc. 53 (11): 4203–4225. doi:10.1021/ja01362a042.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  6. ^ "Wallace Carothers and the Development of Nylon". acs.org. American Chemical Society. Retrieved 25 August 2017.
  7. ^ "Historical Files on Neoprene". findingaids.hagley.org. Archived from the original on 12 January 2017. Retrieved 25 August 2017.
  8. ^ "Awards and honors, Chem. Eng. News". American Chemical Society. May 21, 1973. doi:10.1021/cen-v051n021.p030.