Ellis, Carlton

In 1937 Carlton Ellis found that unsaturated polyesters, which are condensation products of unsaturated dicarboxylic acids and dihydroxy alcohols, would freely co-polymerize with monomers which contained double bond imsaturation, yielding rigid thermosetting resins. The allylic resins became commercial resins suitable for compounding into a broad range of products with exceptional electrical, mechanical, thermal, and chemical properties. 

Glycyl maleates were described by D. Vorlander in 1894 and synthesized by W.H. Carothers in 1929. Carlton Ellis was granted a patent for the polymerization of a solution of glycol maleate in vinyl acetate in 1937. Because of its volatility, the vinyl acetate was replaced later by styrene and these tems were used to impregnate fiberglass for the production of polyester composites. The annual production of unsaturated polyester resins in the U.S. is 1.4 billion pounds. 

Carlton Ellis, who was one of the most prolific inventors of all times (753 U.S. patents), was born in Keene, NH on September 20, 1876. He graduated from MIT in 1900 and served as an instructor at his alma mater for two years. 

Urea. Urea formaldehyde resins came into being through work done by Fritz Pollack and Kurt Hitter along with Carlton Ellis in the 1920s. This was followed up by the introduction of a white urea compound by Dr. A. M. Howald, named Plaskon, which was sold by Toledo Synthetic Products Company, which, in turn, became a part of Allied Chemical Company. 

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