History glue

M. Regert, Investigating the history of prehistoric glues through gas chromatography mass spectrometry, Journal of Separation Science, 27, 244 254 (2004). 

The chemicals featured in the behavior of many organisms also touch our own lives in important ways. They provide a sizable fraction of modern medicines, as well as perfumes, pesticides, and other products ranging from textiles to glue. Some of these chemicals have been in use for thousands of years and have intriguing histories. Others offer ways to save threatened environments all affect our own lives, and some do so profoundly. 

There is one more gluey story that merits telling. It s all about Spencer F. Silver. Granted, his name may not be a household word, but one of his inventions certainly is Post-It notes. In 1998 the American Chemical Society presented its award for creative innovation to Silver, 3M s chief scientist, for inventing a glue that sticks when you want it to and releases when you want it to. And what a curious history this substance has. 

Carbohydrate polymers historically have been used for or in adhesives. Indeed, my first encounter with adhesives, and possibly your first encounter, involved the use of a carbohydrate polymer to glue paper. As a child, I used a paste made from flour and water to glue paper-mache into some very interesting forms. And as a parent, I used this same technique to build many a tunnel and hill for my son s miniature train layout, thus passing along (in disguised form) a bit of knowledge about the use of carbohydrate polymers as an adhesive that was surely first discovered before recorded history. 

As stated earlier, the sample acts as a "glue" between method and instrument. The use of more and more sophisticated methods and instruments is required as the matrix becomes more and more complex. Also, within the logical quality-quantity-structure chain, "the selection of analytical methods and of the corresponding instrumentation is a consequence of correct knowledge of the sample s history and homogeneity."23... 

The main family of bioerodible polymers is represented by poly(alkylcya-noacrylate)s (PACA). These polymers have a long history since 1947 as adhesives, especially in areas where a fast cure rate is needed. Polymerisation of alkylcyanoacrylates (ACA) can be initiated in the presence of bases as weak as the hydroxyl ions of water. The propagation rate decreases when the size of the lateral alkyl chain increases. As polymerisation can be very fast, ACAs have been used as surgical glue, as tissue adhesive and for embolisation purposes. As shown in Section 4.4.6, ACAs have also been used extensively for preparing nanospheres and nanocapsules for drug delivery. 

Recently, the case history of an apprentice cobbler was reported. He was occupationally exposed to leather, rubber, plastic items and several glues, and acquired a contact allergy to the major monomer of an ethylcyanoacrylate glue (Bruze et al. 1995). 

History. Like biphenyl, o-phenylphenol was of major importance in chemical industries in Europe before and after World War II, as intermediate for dyes, rubber and different laboratory uses. In opposition to biphenyl it is not only used to preserve the surface of citrus fruits but also to protect cosmetics and some technical products (e.g. protein based glues or emulsions), and as an active ingredient in disinfectants and cleaning agents, sometimes used in the food industries. 

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