Wallace Carothers
[1] Carothers was a group leader at the DuPont Experimental Station laboratory, near Wilmington, Delaware, where most polymer research was done.[7] During the 1921–22 school year, Carothers held a one-year appointment as a chemistry instructor at the University of South Dakota.It was at the University of South Dakota that he began his independent research that resulted in an article accepted by the Journal of the American Chemical Society.The properties have very similar values, which led him to the conclusion that the structure of the second compound is C6H5-N=N=N, with the three nitrogen atoms in a linear chain rather than a ring as previously thought.Carothers traveled to Wilmington, Delaware, to discuss the possibility of being in charge of organic chemistry at the new DuPont laboratory for fundamental research.At first he refused DuPont's offer of employment, explaining that "I suffer from neurotic spells of diminished capacity which might constitute a much more serious handicap there than here."[14] In spite of this admission, a DuPont executive, Hamilton Bradshaw, traveled to Harvard and convinced Carothers to change his mind.[17] By the summer of 1928, Carothers had a small staff of Ph.D. chemists and two consultants: Dr. Roger Adams, his thesis advisor, and Dr. Carl Marvel, his instructor of organic chemistry at the University of Illinois.Bolton asked Carothers to examine the chemistry of an acetylene polymer with the goal of creating synthetic rubber.In April 1930, one of Carothers' staff, Dr. Arnold M. Collins, isolated chloroprene, a liquid which polymerized to produce a solid material that resembled rubber.[18][19] In the same year, Dr. Julian W. Hill, another member of the Carothers team, began work again on attempting to produce a polyester with a molecular weight of above 4,000.I'm living out in the country now with three other bachelors, and they being socially inclined have all gone out in tall hats and white ties, while I after my ancient custom sit sullenly at home.It was pretty well received but the prospect of having to make it ruined the preceding weeks and it was necessary to resort to considerable amounts of alcohol to quiet my nerves for the occasion.… My nervousness, moroseness and vacillation get worse as time goes on, and the frequent resort to drinking doesn't bring about any permanent improvement.Carother's work in linear super-polymers began as an unrestricted foray into the unknown, with no practical objective in mind.[29] On February 28, 1935, Gerard Berchet, under the direction of Carothers, produced a half-ounce of polymer from hexamethylenediamine and adipic acid, creating polyamide 6-6, the substance that would come to be known as Nylon.In addition, dozens of chemists and engineers worked on refining polyamide 6-6 into a viable commercial product[citation needed].[32] Soon afterwards, on April 30, 1936, Carothers became the first industrial organic chemist to be elected to the National Academy of Sciences, a very high honor.Yet, by June 1936, in spite of this honor which validated his contributions to science, Carothers could not shake the depression that prevented him from working.