Application Research Methods for Synthetic Detergents

APPLICATION research is as old as civilization. When prehistoric man tried the first bronze spear on his enemy, he was carding out application research in the chemical field. Organized application research is the child of industrial research. Industrial chemical research is paid for by the profit from the sales of new chemicals, but new chemicals cannot be sold until application research finds out what to do with them. Application research is not carried out on every new chemical, but only on those chemicals which might be marketed. New chemicals are easily made. The number of chemical compounds which have been prepared is almost countless, but only a few of these are commercially useful. Experience has shown, however, that application research can seek out from the countless unused chemicals compounds which are invaluable to mankind. Synthetic rubber, DDT, 2-4D, and synthetic resins were developed by use of chemical compounds which had been known for many years. ...