Abstract
UNDER the above title an interesting address was delivered by Dr. F. Mollwo Perkin before the Society of Arts on December 11. After briefly reviewing the history of the development of the indiarubber industry and the nature of the processes used in extracting the natural product and in vulcanisation, an account was given of the recent synthetic processes by which the manufacture of artificial rubber on the large scale has become a commercial possibility. In the process of the Synthetic Products Co. isoprene is made from fusel oil, which is fractionated so as to give isoamyl alcohol, CH(CH3)2.CH2.CH2.OH, which is converted into the chloride, CH(CH3)2.CH2.CH2.Cl by the action of hydrochloric acid and then into the dichloride C(CH3)2C1.CH2.CH2.C1 by the action of chlorine, under specially controlled conditions; the dichloride obtained is passed through a tube heated at 470° and filled with soda-lime, whereby it is converted into isoprene, which can be polymerised to rubber by means of small quantities of sodium.
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Natural and Synthetic Rubber . Nature 90, 489–490 (1913). https://doi.org/10.1038/090489a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/090489a0