Alexander H. Popkin
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Alexander H. Popkin, Ph.D. (November 7, 1913 – January 23, 1987) was an American scientist and inventor with 33 US patents and 18 scientific publications.


Early life and education

Popkin was born in New York City, on the lower east side of Manhattan. He received a B.S. in
chemistry Chemistry is the scientific study of the properties and behavior of matter. It is a physical science within the natural sciences that studies the chemical elements that make up matter and chemical compound, compounds made of atoms, molecules a ...
from
Brooklyn College Brooklyn College is a public university in Brooklyn in New York City, United States. It is part of the City University of New York system and enrolls nearly 14,000 students on a campus in the Midwood and Flatbush sections of Brooklyn as of fall ...
in 1934, an M.S. in
organic chemistry Organic chemistry is a subdiscipline within chemistry involving the science, scientific study of the structure, properties, and reactions of organic compounds and organic matter, organic materials, i.e., matter in its various forms that contain ...
from
Pennsylvania State University The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State or PSU) is a Public university, public Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related Land-grant university, land-grant research university with campuses and facilities throughout Pennsyl ...
in 1935, and a Ph.D. in organic chemistry from Pennsylvania State University in 1939. He was a member of the honorary societies of
Sigma Xi Sigma Xi, The Scientific Research Honor Society () is an international non-profit honor society for scientists and engineers. Sigma Xi was founded at Cornell University by a faculty member and graduate students in 1886 and is one of the oldest ...
and
Phi Lambda Upsilon Phi Lambda Upsilon National Honorary Chemical Society () was founded in 1899 at the Noyes Laboratory of the University of Illinois. Phi Lambda Upsilon was the first honor society dedicated to scholarship in a single discipline, chemistry. Objec ...
.


Career


Sun Chemical Company

Dr. Popkin began his career at Sun Chemical Company, working there from 1939 - 1945. He was group head in charge of organic research on new pigments, dyes, and resins for use in printing ink formulations. During
World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
, there was a major effort related to new pigments, dyes, and resins from non-critical raw materials. He was involved in confidential research for the
National Defense Research Committee The National Defense Research Committee (NDRC) was an organization created "to coordinate, supervise, and conduct scientific research on the problems underlying the development, production, and use of mechanisms and devices of warfare" in the U ...
(NDRC), and he was added to American Men of Science in 1944.


Maltbie Chemical Company

In 1945 he became director of research at Maltbie Chemical Company with responsibility for the supervision and coordination of organic research and pharmaceutical development, and an advisor to the export department on matters relating to foreign registry of company products, and advisor to the advertising department on matters of dosage forms and labeling.


Esso Research and Engineering Company (formerly Standard Oil Development Company)

From 1946 - 1968, Popkin worked at
Esso Esso () is a trading name for ExxonMobil. Originally, the name was primarily used by its predecessor Standard Oil of New Jersey after the breakup of the original Standard Oil company in 1911. The company adopted the name "Esso" (from the phon ...
Research and Engineering Company, Linden, NJ in research and development in the areas of motor lubricants, lubricant additives, gasolines, gasoline additives, aviation lubricants, new applications for asphalts related to water conservation and materials of construction, as well as studies in air pollution. Between 1947 and 1970, he obtained 33 US patents as the inventor or co-inventor. The patents were assigned to the following companies: Sun Chemical Company (4 patents), Standard Oil Development Company (9 patents), and Esso Research and Engineering Company (20 patents). His inventions included a major gasoline additive, first Esso commercial low-cost aviation synthetic jet engine lubricant, first Esso military low-cost aviation synthetic jet engine lubricant, two major Esso aviation mineral oil piston engine lubricants, and two major Esso motor oil additives. Some of these inventions were developed into Uniflo Motor Oil 5W-20, a new synthetic lubricant for car and truck engines, and Esso Extra Gasoline containing a detergent additive, which was marketed and advertised as "Put a Tiger in Your Tank." After taking early retirement from Esso in 1968, he continued working for Esso as a consultant doing research projects in the US Patent office in Washington, DC. Esso Research and Engineering became Exxon and then
ExxonMobil Exxon Mobil Corporation ( ) is an American multinational List of oil exploration and production companies, oil and gas corporation headquartered in Spring, Texas, a suburb of Houston. Founded as the Successors of Standard Oil, largest direct s ...
.


US Patents


Publications

* "Sterols. X. Cholesterol Derivatives,"
Journal of the American Chemical Society The ''Journal of the American Chemical Society'' (also known as JACS) is a weekly peer-reviewed scientific journal that was established in 1879 by the American Chemical Society. The journal has absorbed two other publications in its history, the ...
, April 1, 1937 * "The Action of Primary Grignard Reagents on t-Butylacetyl Chloride," Journal of the American Chemical Society, October 1, 1938 * "Isomerization during the Preparation of n-Amyl Chloride," Journal of the American Chemical Society, October 1, 1938 * "The Reducing Action of Primary Grignard Reagents with Trimethylacetyl Chloride," Journal of the American Chemical Society, November 1, 1938 * "The Action of Primary Grignard Reagents with t-Butylacetyl Chloride. II¹, Journal of the American Chemical Society, November 1, 1938 * "The Common Basis of Intramolecular Rearrangements. VI.¹ Reactions of Neopentyl Iodide," Journal of the American Chemical Society, June 1, 1939 * "Reaction of Neopentyl Chloride with Sodium," Journal of the American Chemical Society, June 1, 1939 * "Attempted Separation of Isomeric Hexenes by Fractional Distillation," Journal of the American Chemical Society, April 1, 1940 * "The Common Basis of Intramolecular Rearrangements. VII.¹ Inapplicability of a Free Radical Mechanism. Formation of 1,1-DimethylcyclopropAerane and Neopentane by the Action of Sodium on Neopentyl Chloride. Relation to the Mechanism of the Wurtz Reaction," Journal of the American Chemical Society, January 1, 1941 * "Grignard Reductions. IX.¹'²'³ Further Studies on the Reduction of Acid Halides," Journal of the American Chemical Society, March 1, 1941 * "Additions and Corrections. The Reducing Action of Primary Grignard Reagents with Trimethylacetyl Chloride," Journal of the American Chemical Society, December 1, 1942 * "Derivatives of Biphenylsulfonamides. I. Preparation of p-(o-Aminophenyl)-benzenesulfonamide,¹" Journal of the American Chemical Society, November 1, 1943 * "Derivatives of Biphenylsulfonamide. II.¹ Derivatives of p-(o-Aminophenyl)-benzenesulfonamide,²" Journal of the American Chemical Society, November 1, 1943 * "Orientation in the Biphenyl System. The Preparation of 2- and 4-Aminobiphenyl-4'-sulfonamides," Journal of the American Chemical Society, May 1, 1944 * "Orientation in the Biphenyl System.¹ Derivatives of 2-P.²" Journal of the American Chemical Society, May 1, 1944 * "Dibasic Acid Esters," ''Synthetic Lubricants,'' Reinhold Publishing Corporation, New York, NY, 1962 * "New Roles for Asphalt in Controlling Man's Environment," National Petroleum Refiners Association, Tech. AM-67-16, San Antonio, Texas, April 3–5, 1967 * "Low Cost Drinking Water from Asphalt Catchments," International Conference on Water for Peace, Washington, DC, 1968


Professional Associations and Activities

*
American Chemical Society The American Chemical Society (ACS) is a scientific society based in the United States that supports scientific inquiry in the field of chemistry. Founded in 1876 at New York University, the ACS currently has more than 155,000 members at all ...
, 1937 - 1987 (Elected to the position of Area V representative for the Division of Petroleum Chemistry of the American Chemical Society in 1966.) *
Society of Automotive Engineers SAE International is a global professional association and standards organization based in Warrendale, Pennsylvania, United States. Formerly the Society of Automotive Engineers, the organization adopted its current name in 2006 to reflect bot ...
, 1952 - 1970 * Chemists' Club, 1939 - 1947 * Association of Research Directors, Co-founder; Secretary-Treasurer, 1945 - 1948


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Popkin, Alexander 1913 births 1987 deaths 20th-century American inventors 20th-century American chemists