Arnold M. Collins

Arnold Miller Collins (1899-1982) was a chemist at DuPont who, working under Elmer Bolton and Wallace Carothers, 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.
  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.
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