Synthetic Tannins

Synthetic Tannins

The Project Gutenberg EBook of Synthetic Tannins, by Georg Grasser
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Title: Synthetic Tannins
Author: Georg Grasser
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SYNTHETIC TANNINS ***

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SYNTHETIC TANNINS
THEIR SYNTHESIS, INDUSTRIAL PRODUCTION AND
APPLICATION
by Georg Crasser, Dr. Phil., Ing. Lecturer in Tanning Chemistry at the
German Technical College, Brunn

AUTHOR'S PREFACE
Whilst the synthesis of the natural tannins has been successfully
outlined by Emil Fischer, it has been left to the Chemical Industry,
notably the Badische Anilin und Soda-fabrik in
Ludwigshafen-on-the-Rhine, to discover the means of making possible
the production of the synthetic tannins.
The scientific results of Fischer's researches are to-day common
knowledge, and these, together with questions arising therefrom, will
only be lightly touched upon in the book herewith presented. Even an
attempt at enumerating the present synthetic tannins has so far not been
published, and I have therefore availed myself of the opportunity of
making a brief summary of them. My work at the B.A.S.F. deepened
my insight in this new field; ample opportunity of applying these
synthetic products in practice was given me when, as a result of the war,
I was appointed technical consultant to the Austrian Hide and Leather
Commission, and in this capacity was called upon to act as general
adviser to the trade. The ultimate object of my scientific researches was
then to investigate the chemistry of this particular field, and this has led
me to present a picture, complete as far as it goes, of this branch of
chemical technology.
The intention of the present volume is to communicate to the reader
what has so far been scientifically evolved and practically applied in

this field. First of all, however, it may illustrate the extreme importance
and the universal applicability of the synthetic tannins in the making of
leather. The modern leather industry cannot, to-day, be without these
important products, but also in those tanneries, where the synthetic
tannins have not so far been regarded as indispensable, their use is
strongly recommended. Just as in the case of the coal-tar dyes, the
synthetic tannins will make us independent of foreign supplies, and
thus keep within our own borders the vast sum of money required in
former days for the purchase of foreign tanning materials. May this
book prove the means of providing an incentive for a still wider
application of the synthetic tannins.
GRASSER.
GRAZ, August 1920.

TRANSLATOR'S PREFACE
Doctor Grasser hardly needs an introduction to the leather trade of this
country in its scientific aspect, but if one be sought for, none could
serve the purpose better than a translation of the book herewith
presented to the British-speaking public.
Viewed with curiosity from their start, the synthetic tannins
needed--like many other important discoveries--an extreme emergency
for the purpose of showing their value. The Great War provided the
opportunity of which chemical industry was to avail itself, and to-day
we do not only see synthetic tannins placed upon the market as a
veritable triumph of chemical technology and a creditable triumph of
manufacturing chemistry; we also see their immensely practical
qualities established as a fact, and, as the author aptly remarks, no
modern tanner can to-day dissociate himself from the use of synthetic
tannins for the production of leather in the true sense of this word.
There is no branch of leather-making where synthetic tannins cannot
help and improve processes already established.
The immense number of substances patented by German manufacturing
chemists for the purpose of producing synthetic tanning materials is
almost staggering. In view of this fact it is doubly pleasing to see that
British chemists have found new ways, and are able to produce