Evening star., 1952-03-10
From Corncob to Silk:
FurfuroI Aids NyIon
Chemists Discovery HeroIds
End Of Tremendous Waste
By Thomos R. Henry

End Of Tremendous Waste
By Thomos R. Henry
Corncobs may be woven into silken
gowns.
The vast waste production Of Ameri-
can farms represented by the hitherto
essentially unusable cobs long has been
q problem of Department of Agriculture
chemists. From them can be extracted
furfural. an oily liquid having the odor
Of bitter almonds. One use after an
other has been developed for this fur
fural. mostly quite minor.
Quite different is the latest develop
ment just reported by the Department.
From furfural, chemists at the Northern.
Regional Laboratory report, can be
made a chemical which is necessary
step in the manufacture Of nylon.
This" says their report, "is of parti-
cular interest because it represents the
finest large-scale utilization for fur
fural that actually becomes part of
product for sale to the consuming
public"
The past uses found have been quite
highly specialized. But prospectively q
brilliant future lies ahead for the de-
spiSed cob From the laboratory's work.
says the report, have come processes
for conversion of furfural into new as
well as previously known chemicals
from which vitamins, anti-malarial
drugs, essential amino acids and plastics
can be syntheSized. Most recent
methods have been developed whereby
simple reaction products Of furfural can
be converted by treatment with hydro
gen and water into compounds re-
sembling glycerin in many of their
chemical and physical properties. Treat
ment of these products resulted in a
series Of new compounds that may find
use as lubricants for aircraft inStru-
ments, as high quality plasticizers for
cellulose acetate Aims, or as compounds
of hydraulic fluids useful in automobiles
or airplanes.
Source Of New Chemicals.
Further processing reactions can
easily result in the Synthesis OF hundreds
of new chemicals.
These developments promise not only
an eventually highly profitable use OF
corncobs but of oat, cottonseed and rice
hulls. These also contain considerable
amounts for furfural.
Some Of the compounds. the report
says. already have found limited use
in synthetic rubber production. 1t
begins to look, however, as II the pile
of corncobs may become one OF the
farms best assets.
4
Turning sugar into airplane turrets
and windows may be one Of agricultural
chemistry's DEVELOPMENTS.
Department Of Agriculture chemists.
according to report just issued, have
developed economically sound methods
of obtaining from various kinds Of sugars
q material known as itaconic acid which,
mixed with various other plasticizing
materials, can be turned into flexible,
strong transparent plastics which should
be of special value to the aviation in
dustry. The value of itaconic acid long
has been recognized, but the quantities
produced have been too small and ex-
pensive to have much commercial i'm
portance.
Itaconic Pilot Plant.
BY the new process developed at the
Northern Region Laboratory, according
to the report, about half of the weight
of the starting materials can be con-
verted into the acid in small scale ex-
periments. The process involves fer
rmenting the sugar with special mould
organism. Pilot plant studies now are
being conducted on the process.
Based on the early results, says the
report, "itaconic acid can be produced
and recovered by this process for q
cents pound in plant producing
three million pounds year." The price
of the so-called methacrylates- now
used in the production of strong plas-
tics, runs from 81 to go cents pound.
according to the process used. 1t prob
ably would always be necessary to mix
the acid with methacrylates.
Besides its value in aircraft, accord
ing to the report. the new product
should have considerable value for OPP
tical equipment for military instruments.
BY the development Of other fermen-
tation methods the Northern Laboratory
chemists have greatly increased the
yield Of citric acid, constituent of many
foods and medicines which is found in
most citrus fruits, from blackstrap mo-
lasses. About 35 million pounds per
year now is produced. BY the new proc
eSs the amounts obtained from molasseS
are essentially as high as those previ-
ously obtained from pure sugar, while
the cost is Qreatlv reduced