Elmer Keiser Bolton - World War I and DuPont

World War I and DuPont

Up to the onset of World War I (1914) most organic compounds had been imported from Europe, but disruptions caused by the War presented an opportunity for American chemical companies to become established in this area, and to meet a wartime need. When Bolton returned from Germany in 1915 he discovered American organic chemists struggling to develop methods for manufacturing these compounds. The Dupont Company needed chemists, and hired Bolton in 1915.

Bolton joined the Chemical Department at the Experimental Station outside Wilmington, Delaware, where most of DuPont's research was conducted. Being groomed for advancement, he started working on the synthesis of glycerol. By 1916 Bolton was selected to lead the Dye Group that was newly formed to research the synthesis of dyes. The United States had little knowledge of dye manufacture at this time, so later in 1916 Bolton traveled to England to learn about British technology in this area, and upon return he was assigned to the Wilmington Office to be advisor on dyes and intermediates. In 1918 he transferred to the Dyestuffs Department and was assistant general manager of the Lodi Works where silk colorants were made. In 1919 he returned to the Chemical Department as manager of the Organic Division. During this time he learned much about developing manufacturing processes and developed two principles; that high priority must be given to cost and time effectiveness of research, and that a manufacturing process should be perfected using pure materials, then later adapted to use materials available to the plant. Bolton's friend from Harvard, Roger Adams shared much of Bolton's philosophy in his work at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

In 1922 DuPont reorganized its research by dividing the entire research enterprise into four parts, each assigned to one of its four production areas. Bolton was made director of research for the Dyestuffs Department where his ability in this capacity was quickly realized. Dye manufacture requires the synthesis of a large number of intermediate compounds, and Bolton realized these could be used in many activities outside the Dyestuffs Department. By 1923 his lab was working on accelerators for manufacture of synthetic rubber and soon after extended the research to include antioxidants for gasoline and rubber, floatation agents, insecticides, seed disinfectants, and large scale manufacture of tetraethyllead.