N9

tions for suitable themes and details of

other possible participants will also be particularly welcome.

Fads in R e s e a r c h - - Fullerite versus

ortho-para-H2 C o n v e r s i o n

A recent book in the Advanced Series

in Fullerenes [1] was reviewed in The
Chemical Intelligencer. This volume is a
473 page book that covers the recent
epidemic growth of fullerene research. The
book review contains a plot showing the
annual output of publications in fullerene
research and this plot has been updated
by the writer (Fig. 1). A paper by Kr&tschmer et al. [2] provided the impetus to
change the constant or slightly declining
trend of publications on this topic into an
exponential or even more rapid growth.
Such rapid growth draws attention to
the subject, and the writer acknowledges
# of Citations
2,500 I

2,000

1,500

1,000

500

0
85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95
YEAR

Fig. 1. Annual output of publications in

fullerene research.
applied catalysis A: General

to succumbing to this appeal. However,

we found that whereas fullerite was a catalyst for the conversion of 4-(1-naphthylmethyl)-bibenzyl, Norit activated carbon was
a 4-10 times better catalyst than fullerite
[3]. A similar result was obtained when
these two carbon catalysts were used for
direct coal liquefaction, except the conversions were decreased from that of the thermal reaction. Thus, our interest in this topic
quickly waned.
The growth of fullerite activity allows the
scale of modern science to be compared
to that of earlier time periods. The introduction of quantum theory led to the theoretical prediction of the existence of two distinct forms of hydrogen, ortho-H2 and paraH2, due to the fact that they possess different nuclear spins. Bonhoeffer and Hartec
passed hydrogen over charcoal at liquid
nitrogen temperature to 'clean-up' the hydrogen prior to passing it over a Pt catalyst,
a material that they 'knew' had to be an
active catalyst for the o-p conversion.
They were amazed to find that charcoal
was itself an exceptionally active catalyst
[4] and even more active than Pt at liquid
air temperature. Many of the papers that
appeared during the first 'exponential'
growth-decline period during 1930-1940
originated from the laboratory of Bonhoeffer, with Hartec and the Farkas brothers,
Adalbert and Ladislas, as authors or coauthors (Fig. 2). Thus, during the year 1933
the two Farkas brothers, by then working
in the laboratory of Sir Eric Rideal, published 17 papers on o-p-H2 and/or H2/D2 conversions and thereby became the major
contributors to the exponential growth of
that year as well as many of the early years.
The overall growth peaked at about 20
papers/year compared to greater than
2000/year for fullerite during 1995. The

Volume 137 No. 2 - - 11 April 1996

N10
50

ol
r.
O

4O

30
..0
a..

3
E
=
Z

20

i.

" i i j;,,

10

i-'

'i
ii

i
'

1910 1920 1930 1940 1950 1960 1970 1980 1990

Year

Fig. 2. Number of publications on ortho-para-hydrogen conversion vs. year.

Farkas brothers, and others, were driven in
start his work in a corner of Rideal's big
their work on o-p-H2 by their curiosity and
office which was located in the attic. He
the desire to test the validity of a prediction
wrote, "...within a few weeks I installed my
based on quantum theory. The results
thermal conductivity apparatus after many
quickly satisfied this curiosity and the numhours of glass blowing while standing on
ber of published papers declined just as
one foot and pumping the bellows with the
rapidly.
other for my blowtorch since there was no
With the increased interest in rocket
compressed air in the laboratory." Berzepropulsion following WWII, technological
lius, defining catalysis in 1836, would have
applications began to drive interest in the
noted only small changes between Farkas'
o-p-H2 conversion. The desire to use liquid
laboratory space, lab equipment and
hydrogen as a rocket fuel led engineers to
hands-on laboratory skills from that of his
realize that the 'boil-off' during the filling of
own period 100 years earlier. On the other
fuel tanks could be greatly reduced if the
hand, 60 years later, we note that a como-p-H2 catalyst conversion was used to
puter will generate a 'cross-indexed biblicool the boiled-off vapor. The exponential
ography' of more than 3000 references to
growth of publications on this topic during
fullerene research over a nine-year period
this period would have been much greater
and have it offered for sale as a 473 page
if the 'cold-war space race' had not caused
hardback book priced at $93.00. The fads
many of the research results to be classitoday appear more frequently and with an
fied and thereby not to be published in the
intensity that Farkas, let alone Berzelius,
open literature.
could never have imagined. The times
The contrast between these times for
have changed and we in catalysis need to
the two initial growth curves is illuminating.
accept this.
Dr. Farkas [5] reports that when he arrived
in England he was told that, because of a
severe overcrowding problem, he could

applied catalysis A: General

Volume 137 No 2 -

11 April 1996

Nll

References
[1] T. Braun, A. Schubert, H. Maczelka
and L. Vasv~ri, Fullerene Research 19851993. A Computer Generated Cross-Indexed Bibliography of the Journal Literature.
[2] Kr~.tschmer, Nature, 347 (1990) 354.
[3] R.A. Keogh, J.P. Selegue, B. Shi and
B.H. Davis, 11th Ann. Int. Pittsburgh Coal
Conf., Univ. of Pittsburgh, 1994, Vol. 1, pp.
493-499.
[4] K.F. Bonhoeffer and P. Hartec, Naturwiss., 17 (1929) 182.
[5] A. Farkas, in B.H. Davis and W.P.
Hettinger, Jr. (Editors), Heterogeneous
Catalysis. Selected American Histories,
Am. Chem. Soc. Symp. Ser., 222 (1983)
89.
B.H. Davis

Publicizing Catalysis
Human nature is such that we complain
when we do not feel that we are getting our
fair share and, at the same time, we fail to
compliment those who help us in our efforts.
One person who has been at the forefront of bringing catalysis before the
general scientific community is Joseph
Haggin of the Chicago office of Chemical
& Engineering News (C&E News). He has
provided C&E News two major stories during October that feature catalysis. In the
October 2 issue he has a four page article
entitled 'European Conference Mixes Advances in Catalysis with Political Anxieties'
that features news of the 2nd European
Congress on Catalysis (EUROPACAT-II).
In the October 23, 1995 issue of C&E NEWS
he provides an article entitled 'New Government in Poland Divides Responsibility

applied catalysis A: General

for Research and Development.' This latter

article describes views expressed by Professor J. Haber and emphasizes catalysis
research in Professor Haber's laboratory
as well as in other laboratories in Poland.
As a writer, Haggin exhibits his unique
talent in combining the humanistic, scientific and technical aspects of catalysis. He
does this admirably in his October 2 article
by showing the personal views of a pioneer
in catalysis, Haldor Topsoe, founder of the
Danish chemical research and engineering company Haldor Tops~e, and major
themes of catalysis science since the
1930s. That Haldor Topsoe is a man of
optimism is evident since the growth of his
company clearly indicates that he listened
when advised by Johannes Brensted that
catalysis was "too complicated to deal
with. You shouldn't waste your time on it,"
but continued to follow his vision. Moving
to the 1950s, Topsoe notes that surface
science brought the view that "...we could
engineer catalysts from the bottom up,
[but] this was optimistic." Listing a series
of problems that currently perplexes
Topsoe, Haggin writes that "Topsoe, however, regards those difficulties as the best
reason to launch a new era of catalysis."
Topsee is quoted as stating that "Catalysis
can provide the answers to the demands
for new fuels, like reformulated gasolines.
Catalysis can combine the resource management for several industries such as
chemicals and energy." We can hope that
Tops~e's outstanding success will cause
other industrial managements and politicians to heed Topsee's plea for a longerterm view of addressing the problems of
Europe [and the World]. According to
TopsJae, "We have to plan for decades and
not only [for] the next quarter or the next
election. It is necessary that we explain our

Volume 137 No. 2 - - 11 April 1996