Aliphatic Master

Learning last week got around to honoring Dr. George Oliver Curme Jr., one of U. S. chemistry's great experts, by giving him the Chandler Medal and a salute at Columbia University. Industry long ago crowned him with Carbide & Carbon Chemicals Corp., created expressly by Union Carbide & Carbon Corp. to exploit his discoveries and processes. The industrialists, further, made him vice president, chief chemist and director of research of the chemicals subsidiary.

Dr. Curme's main work has been with aliphatic chemicals, such as fatty acids, hydrocarbons, alcohols, esters, ethers. In those compounds the carbon atoms are arranged like links in an open chain.* Ethane, with two linked carbon atoms, is a simple aliphatic; ethyl alcohol a simple aliphatic derivative. Three years ago Dr. Curme began to manufacture ethyl alcohol synthetically on a large scale. Other profitable work has been with acetylene (for welding, lighting), ethylene glycol (for anti-freeze mixtures), ethylene oxide (insecticide, fumigant). Should he have to, Dr. Curme could probably make a living from the hydrocarbons blowing away in almost any large factory's smoke.

*In the other main subdivision of organic chemistry, the aromatics, the carbon atoms form a ring. Benzene is the typical aromatic, dyes and drugs important commercial ring products, Germans the greatest experts.

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