Carl Dietrich HarriesBorn 5 Aug 1866; died 3 Nov 1923 at age 57. German chemist and industrialist who was one of the leading scientists in the elastomer field at the turn of the 20th century. He developed the ozonolysis process (Harries reaction) to determine the structure of natural rubber (polyisoprene). Breaking down the natural rubber substance by the action of ozone, Harries determined its molecular structure is made up from long chains containing many hundreds of isoprene molecules bonded together. That insight was followed up by Fritz Hofmann, who accomplished polymerization of pure isoprene to form synthetic rubber (Aug 1909). On 12 Sep 1909, his process was the granted the world's first patent (German No. 250690) on a “Method for producing synthetic rubber.” |
