Page 32 - Encyclopedia of Chemical Compounds 3 Vols

Timeline of the Development of Chemical Compounds

1928 • Polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA) is first synthesized
in the laboratories of the German chemical firm Ro ¨hm
and Haas.
1928 • Scottish bacteriologist Alexander Fleming accidentally
discovers penicillin.

1930 • DuPont begins manufacturing dichlorodifluoro-
Ò
methane under the name Freon .
1930 • A polymer based on styrene is produced by researchers
at the German chemical firm I. G. Farben. Polystyrene
comes to the United States in 1937.
1930s • Properties and methods of synthesizing many vita-
mins, such as riboflavin, thiamine, niacin, ascorbic acid,
pyridoxine, alpha-tocopherol, and retinol, are developed.
Early 1930s • SBS is first developed by German chemists
Walter Bock and Eduard Tschunkur.
1933 • British chemists Reginald Gibson and Eric Fawcett
accidentally re-discover polyethylene, which was first
discovered in 1889.

1935 • Nylon is invented by Wallace Carothers. It is used in
consumer products within three years.
1935 • German chemist Adolf Friedrich Johann Butenandt
synthesizes testosterone.

1927 1929
Charles Lindbergh The Great
flies solo across the Depression
Atlantic Ocean. begins
. .

1925 1930 1935

CHEMICAL COMPOUNDS xxxi