I.G.Farben

Ma.nufa.cture. AU. manufacturers of butynediol use formaldehyde ethynylation processes. The earliest entrant was BASF, which, as successor to I. G. Farben, continued operations at Ludwigshafen, FRG, after World War II. Later BASF also set up a U.S. plant at Geismar, La. The first company to manufacture in the United States was GAF in 1956 at Calvert City, Ky., and later at Texas City, Tex., and Seadrift, Tex. The most recent U.S. manufacturer is Du Pont, which went on stream at La Porte, Tex., about 1969. Joint ventures of GAF and Hbls in Mad, Germany, and of Du Pont and Idemitsu in Chiba, Japan, are the newest producers. 

Processes rendered obsolete by the propylene ammoxidation process (51) include the ethylene cyanohydrin process (52—54) practiced commercially by American Cyanamid and Union Carbide in the United States and by I. G. Farben in Germany. The process involved the production of ethylene cyanohydrin by the base-cataly2ed addition of HCN to ethylene oxide in the liquid phase at about 60°C. A typical base catalyst used in this step was diethylamine. This was followed by liquid-phase or vapor-phase dehydration of the cyanohydrin. The Hquid-phase dehydration was performed at about 200°C using alkah metal or alkaline earth metal salts of organic acids, primarily formates and magnesium carbonate. Vapor-phase dehydration was accomphshed over alumina at about 250°C. 

First developed in Germany by I. G. Farben (W. Reppe) during the 1930s, PVP was subsequentiy widely used in Germany as a blood-plasma substitute and extender during World War II (69). In the United States, it has been manufactured since 1956 by ISP, and more recentiy by BASF. 

Caprolactam was first successfully polymerized to Pedon in 1938 by I. G. Farben and the associated technology was acquired as a part of postwar reparations by the Western AUies and the former USSR (1). By 1965 other countries, eg, Italy and Japan, had developed their own caprolactam processes, each involving nitrosation of an aUphatic ring. 

Isobutjiene was first polymerized ia 1873. High molecular weight polymer was later synthesized at I. G. Farben by decreasiag the polymerization temperature to —75°, but the saturated, unreactive polymer could not be cross-linked iato a useful synthetic elastomer. It was not until 1937 that poly(isobutylene- (9-isoprene) [9010-85-9] or butyl mbber was iavented at the Standard Oil Development Co. (now Exxon Chemical Co.) laboratories (1). 

About 1930 I.G. Farben, in Germany, first produced polystyrene, whilst at the same time the Dow Chemical Company commenced their ultimately successful development of the material. 

The commercial interest in epoxide (epoxy) resins was first made apparent by the publication of German Patent 676117 by I G Farben in 1939 which described liquid polyepoxides. In 1943 P. Castan filed US Patent 2 324483, covering the curing of the resins with dibasic acids. This important process was subsequently exploited by the Ciba Company. A later patent of Castan covered the hardening of epoxide resins with alkaline catalysts used in the range 0.1-5% This patent, however, became of somewhat restricted value as the important amine hardeners are usually used in quantities higher than 5%. 

Polyamides are the second largest group of synthetic fibers after polyesters. However, they were the first synthetic fibers that appeared in the market in 1940. This was the result of the work of W. H. Carothers in USA who developed nylon 66. At about the same time nylon 6 was also developed in Germany by I. G. Farben. Both of these nylons still dominate the market for polyamides. However, due to patent restrictions and raw materials considerations, nylon 66 is most extensively produced in USA and nylon 6 is most extensively produced in Europe. 

Catalyst Research Associates (CRA) was formed. The original CRA members were Standard of New Jersey (Exxon), Standard of Indiana (Amoco), Anglo Iranian Oil Company (BP Oil), The Texas Company (Texaco), Royal Dutch Shell, Universal Oil Products (UOP), The M.W. Kellogg Company, and I.G. Farben (dropped in 1940). 

The internal cooling system was applied to the Fischer-Tropsch process by the U. S. Bureau of Mines (48, 49), the British Fuels Board (54), and Rheinprussen-Koppers (52, 53). The external cooling system was applied to the Fischer-Tropsch process by I. G. Farben (61). 

The history of polyurethanes begins with Otto Bayer3 at Germany s I. G. Farben-industrie (tire predecessor company of Bayer AG4) in 1937, tire year of tire first disclosure of diisocyanate addition polymerization to form polyurethanes and polyureas. The main impetus for this work was tire success of Wallace Caro titers... 

For more on the development history of polyurethanes at I. G. Farben and elsewhere, see (a) O. Bayer, Angew. Chem, A59, 275 (1947) (b) O. Bayer, E. Mueller, S. Peterson, H. Piepenbrink and E. Windemuth, Angew. Chem, 62, 57 (1950) (c) O. Bayer, E. Mueller, S. Peterson, H. Piepenbrink, andE. Windemuth, Rubber Chem. Technol., 23, 812 (1950) (d) Urethanes Technology, Vol. 4, March and June issues (1987), Crain Communications, London (e) K. C. Frisch, Historical Developments of Polyurethanes, in 60 Years of Polyurethanes, International Symposium and Exhibition, January 15-16, 1998, Technomic Publishing, Lancaster, PA, 1998. 

I.G. Farben Process. The first continuous mass polystyrene process was developed in Germany by I.G. 

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