Polyurethanes historical developments

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. 

Although we did not publish our domain theory in 1965, it was fairly evident to those acquainted with the historical developments in Table II that the new products were three-block polymers. Researchers in the field very rapidly commenced to use these polymers as models for comparison and as subject for physicochemical studies. Evidence for this may be seen in the work reported by Cooper and Tobolsky (42) in 1966, in which they correlated the behavior of polyester-polyurethane thermoplastic rubbers (Estane products) (37) with those of a Shell S-B-S polymer. They concluded that the presence of segregated hard and soft phases in the Estane... 

Looking at the historical development of the emulsion pol)nnerization, it is seen that the trigger factor in this development was the necessity for synthetic rubber in the wartime. The production of styrene/butadiene rubber (SBR) satisfied this requirement. Today, millions of tons of S)mthetic latexes are produced by the emulsion pol3merization process for use in wide variety of applications. In the S)mthetic latexes, the most important groups are styrene/butadiene copolymers, vinyl acetate homopol)rmers and copol)nners, and polyacrylates. Other synthetic latexes contain copolymers of ethylene, styrene, vinyl esters, vinyl chloride, vinylidene chloride, acrylonitrile, cloroprene and polyurethane. 

Among the contrarians, Bayer has had for historical reasons a different approach to the problem of remaining a well-rounded producer of chemicals. It has always been a leader in such specialty chemicals as plastics and rubber additives and supplies master batches through its subsidiary Rhein Chemie. Its polymers are mainly centered on synthetic elastomers and specialty plastics like polyurethanes and polycarbonates that Bayer itself develops. These are not subjected to the cutthroat competition that commodity thermoplastics are. Bayer has remained involved in aroma chemicals with a well-known subsidiary, Haarmann Reimer. In pharmaceuticals the company occupies an honorable rank, although in the future its management may want to separate that branch from the rest of its activities in preparation for further alliances. Like BASF, Bayer considers its agrochemical line as a core business. However, unlike BASF, it is less interested in integrating upstream production to oil raw... 

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