Archive for October, 2009

About Wallace Carothers & His Quest for Macromolecules

On October 19, 2009 in General

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Wallace Carothers is widely known as the inventor of Nylon- the ubiquitous material that has seen a wide variety of applications since its invention in the mid-1930s, and will continue to do so in the future as well. But in a publication in the journal World Patent Information, author Arvind Viswanathan, Chief Strategy Officer in Xellect IP Solutions shows that Polyamides (the chemical generic name for Nylons) was not Carothers’ original intention. Arvind studied the patents of Wallace Carothers, and analyzed his findings with other resources available, including the biographical sketch of Wallace Carothers written by Matthew Hermes. It shows that Carothers’ first instinct was to develop polyesters. He got involved with vinyl polymers to extend the work of Father Nieuwland from Notre Dame University more due to the insistence of Carothers’ supervisor Elmer Bolton. Only upon Elmer Bolton’s insistence for obtaining a commecially viable product nearly 6 years after Carothers joined Du Pont did Carothers turn to polyamides for a solution.

Analysis of patents and patent publications is something that Arvind does on a routine basis at Xellect IP Solutions to provide clients technology, IP and business directions. Here, he uses his patent analytical skills and rich experience in a different manner to provide an insight into the history of development of Nylon, which also provides a quick glimpse of the working of one of the finest scientific minds of the 20th century. Arvind states the following about Wallace Carothers: “No other investigator has excelled Wallace Hume Carothers in advancing our knowledge of high polymeric chemistry and at the same time providing a basis for the development of technically-useful synthetic polymeric materials.”

 The publication can be viewed at the following link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.wpi.2009.09.004 

Comments on this post are most welcome and may be emailed directly to info@xellectip.com

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