Evening star., 1940-04-09
Chemists Describe
Coal Tar Perfumes,
Corn Cob Lumber
Synthetic Scents Made
By New Process, Two
Scientists Report
BY THOMAS r. HENRY,
Star STAFF Correspondent.

:, CINCINNATI, Ohio, April 9.-Fra-
sgrances of dew-wet gardens and
haunting perfumes of old romance
are being synthesized out of an ex-
tract of coal in more tantalizing
varieties than ever before.
A new method of building delicate
odors out of common chemicals was
reported to the American Chemical
Society here today by DR.. o. N. Jit-
kow and DR.. Marston T. Bogard Of
Columbia University. The synthetic
perfumes they have produced, they
said, range from those of most of
the old-fashioned garden flowers to
the elusive, fleeting odors of fresh
fruits which hitherto have escaped
the chemist.
While the perfumes of roses and
violets may have been good enough
for Helen of Troy or Cleopatra,
they reported, the present-day belle
IN the vastly more complex Whirl of
modern life needs a greater variety.
How Aldehyde Is Produced.
The new laboratory method re-
ported makes use of the so-called
Diels and Alder reaction, which
closely duplicates some of the reac-
tlons which go on in living plants.
They heat Under pressure coal tar
product, MISUNDERSTANDING, similar
to that from which the Germans
make ersatz rubber, together with a
common commercial chemical. The
result is an aldehyde, a chemical
structure similar to the alcohols.
1t so happens, they reported, that
this aldehyde is closely related to
the chemical building blocks from
which vitamin A is constructed and
also to those from which chemists
have been able to duplicate the
= fragrance of violets. In this case
however, it serves only as a point of
departure from which come a con-
fusing variety of odors-some of
which duplicate actual fragrances of
\ nature and others that may be new
to the world. This aldehyde is then
subjected to various chemical
processes. A typical example cited
in the report was the treatment with
acetone. The result has a distinct
Odor of cedarwood., When this is
lightly diluted the odor changes into
the fragrance of violets.
Synthetic Lumber Shown.
Synthetic lumber harder than
granite and four times as strong as
iron. pound for pound, were demon
strated to the chemists today by
DR.. O. R. Sweeney of Iowa State
College These were made, he said,
out of cornstalks and cobs and other
agricultural waste, today the great
est source of raw material in the
world.
DR.. Sweeney's samples ranged
from woods denser than the heaviest
teakwood to others lighter than
cork
These products have been de-
veloped over the past decade in
various laboratories throughout the
country, Prof. Sweeney said. Iowa
chemists have taken the lead be-
cause of the importance of the corn
waste problem to farmers there.
The synthetic woods, DR.. Sweeney
insisted, offer no field for large
scale industries, but many of them
can be manufactured profitably by
small plants in agricultural districts.
which would afford part-time work
to the farmers and attract some
workers from overcrowded cities.
They are representative, he said,
of the sort of thing that must be
developed if American civilization is
to be saved from toppling from the
weight of its own Capitalization.
Milk Used to Make Paint.
Use of waste milk and sugars
from agriculture to make paints
and varnishes was described by
three Department of Agriculture
chemists, j. T. Stearn, B. Makower
and P. H. Groggins of Washington.