{"id":509,"date":"2014-12-26T01:00:47","date_gmt":"2014-12-26T01:00:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/innovscience.com\/wordpress\/?p=509"},"modified":"2014-12-26T01:04:36","modified_gmt":"2014-12-26T01:04:36","slug":"university-of-akronprofessor-joseph-p-kennedy-expose-part-21","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/innovscience.com\/wordpress\/uncategorized\/university-of-akronprofessor-joseph-p-kennedy-expose-part-21\/","title":{"rendered":"University of Akron\/Professor Joseph P. Kennedy Expose, Part 21"},"content":{"rendered":"

As I stated in the last blog, the current posting will contain another example of where \u201cKennedy\u201d stole an invention made previously by a famous scientist.\u00a0 Before getting to that particular case a little bit of digression is necessary to illustrate another \u201cKennedy\u201d tactic.\u00a0 That tactic is obscuring or in many cases simply omitting facts<\/span>.\u00a0 A prime example is work the \u201cKennedy\u201d group did on the copolymerization of isobutene with \u03b2-pinene.\u00a0 As it turns out, Emil Ott (of Hercules) first patented the copolymerization of isobutene with \u03b2-pinene where the solvent was ethyl chloride and the Lewis acids were BF3<\/sub> and AlCl3<\/sub>.1<\/sup>\u00a0 Much latter the \u201cKennedy\u201d group reinvestigated copolymerization of these two monomers, the only difference being the use of EtAlCl2<\/sub> and lower polymerization temperatures.2-5<\/sup>\u00a0 In two of \u201cKennedy\u2019s\u201d books,2,5<\/sup> the reader is led to believe that successful copolymerization of these two monomers had not been effected until \u201cKennedy\u201d came upon the scene<\/em>.\u00a0 These two books appeared after a peer reviewed article3<\/sup> and patent4<\/sup> had been published.\u00a0 The article itself is quite interesting to make note of since its title \u201cPoly(isobutylene-co-\u03b2-Pinene) A New Sulfur Vulcanizable, Ozone Resistant Elastomer by Cationic Isomerization Copolymerization\u201d is very significant as it is purposely worded to be misleading<\/span>.\u00a0 That is, this copolymer had already been disclosed almost 15 years prior to \u201cKennedy\u2019s\u201d work<\/strong>!<\/p>\n

Since the latter two documents were proofed by outsiders they make mention of Ott\u2019s prior art disclosure1<\/sup> of such copolymerizations; however, without such intervention \u201cKennedy\u201d apparently thought to pull a fast one (in his books) and convince the reader that he invented the copolymer.\u00a0 Another very interesting fact is that in all of the aforementioned \u201cKennedy\u201d references2-5<\/sup> \u201cKennedy\u201d puts forth another falsehood.\u00a0 \u201cKennedy\u2019s\u201d lie is that EtAlCl2<\/sub> gives rise to azeotropic copolymerization whereas he claims other Lewis acids (e.g., AlCl3<\/sub>) do not<\/em>.\u00a0 A close look at \u201cKennedy\u2019s\u201d patent4<\/sup> (e.g., Tables II & III) actually demonstrates that AlCl3<\/sub> (i.e., the system originally described by Ott) not only gives rise to azeotropic copolymerization but that it does so at a much higher reaction temperature than \u201cKennedy\u2019s\u201d EtAlCl2<\/sub> system<\/span>!\u00a0 These falsehoods were accidentally discovered when I was researching terpenic resins and were first disclosed in a book chapter6<\/sup> that I coauthored on the subject.\u00a0 So not only was one of \u201cKennedy\u2019s\u201d first inventions at U. Akron actually made by another researcher 15 years prior but \u201cKennedy\u201d mislead people to believe this invention has actual benefit over Ott\u2019s disclosure when in fact it is less beneficial because it is more energy intensive<\/strong>.\u00a0 It is unknown the exact amount of money wasted by U. Akron on \u201cKennedy\u2019s\u201d inventions but the author of this blog believes it well exceeds $ 1 million.<\/p>\n

As following blog postings will show, a repetitive pattern emerges when one scratches the surface of \u201cKennedy\u201d patents.\u00a0 This pattern is that much of what \u201cKennedy\u201d has patented is prior art (i.e., someone else invented it and disclosed it prior to \u201cKennedy\u201d)<\/em>.\u00a0 A prime example is work done in 1961 by Sinn, Winter, and Tirptiz<\/span>.7<\/sup>\u00a0 Most people in the polymer science community will recognize Sinn\u2019s name since he and Kaminsky are credited with discovering that alkylaluminoxanes are useful activators for metallocenes and ushered in a new era (i.e., single site catalysis) in the polymer science field.\u00a0 In the aforementioned Sinn, Winter, and Tirpitz paper these researchers describe the cationic polymerization of styrene by initiator systems consisting of dialkylaluminum halide + hydrohalogen acid and trialkylaluminum halide + hydrohalogen acid<\/em>.\u00a0 Despite this fact, some years latter \u201cKennedy\u201d was able to patent these same initiator systems for cationic polymerization while at Esso Corp<\/span>!8<\/sup>\u00a0 Interestingly, \u201cKennedy\u201d comes clean about their true origin, not only in several journal articles9,10<\/sup> but also in one of his books (the reader must go to the section on styrene to find this).2<\/sup>\u00a0 Still, prior to this batch of \u201cKennedy\u201d patents, \u201cKennedy\u201d again mentions in both his paper and book that Russian researchers11<\/sup> also previously described initiator systems based on dialkylaluminum halide + Br\u00f8nsted acid for inducing cationic polymerization.\u00a0 It is unknown how these \u201cKennedy\u201d patents were allowed to issue when it is clear to even the most casual observer that previous researchers had already disclosed these initiator systems as being useful for effecting cationic polymerization<\/em><\/strong>.\u00a0 As we will see in other blog postings, \u201cKennedy\u201d continues this pattern; however, the most interesting topic of all is yet to come.*\u00a0 That is, the mystery of \u201cKennedy\u2019s\u201d true identity and the conflicting story he provides surrounding his past\u2026<\/p>\n

* Please note that with the exception of my invention and that of P.V. Kurian all other instances involving \u201cKennedy\u2019s\u201d stealing of other people\u2019s inventions and his obfuscation or complete omission of facts were inadvertently discovered during review of journal articles and\/or the chemical patent literature.\u00a0 It is the belief of the author of this blog that the total number of inventions stolen by \u201cKennedy\u201d is in the many tens of instances.<\/p>\n

References:<\/p>\n

(1) Ott, E. Terpene Resins U.S. Patent 2,373,706, 1945.<\/p>\n

(2) Kennedy, J. P. Cationic Polymerization of Olefins: A Critical Inventory<\/em>; <\/em>John Wiley and Sons: New York, 1975; pp 99-100.<\/p>\n

(3) Kennedy, J. P.; Chou, T. Poly(isobutylene-co-b-Pinene) a new Sulfur Vulcanizable, Ozone Resistant Elastomer by Cationic Isomerization Copolymerization Adv. Polym. Sci. <\/em>1976<\/strong>, 21<\/em>, <\/em>1-39.<\/p>\n

(4) Kennedy, J. P.; Chou, T. M. Process for the Preparation of Isobutylene\/Beta-Pinene Copolymers U.S. Patent 3,923,759, 1975.<\/p>\n

(5) Kennedy, J. P.; Marechal, E. Carbocationic Polymerization<\/em>; <\/em>John Wiley and Sons: New York, 1982; pp 1-510.<\/p>\n

(6) Mathers, R. T.; Lewis, S. P. Monoterpenes as Polymerization Solvents and Monomers in Polymer Chemistry.; In Green Polymerization Methods: Renewable Starting Materials, Catalysis and Waste Reduction; <\/em>Mathers, R. T., Meier, M. A. R., Eds.; Wiley-VCH: New York, 2011;\u00a0 pp 91-128.<\/p>\n

(7) Sinn, H. J.; Winter, H.; Tirpitz, W. V. Polymerisations- und Isomerisierungsaktivitat von Aluminiumtrialkyl, Alkylaluminiumhalogeniden und Ziegler-Mischkatalysatoren Makromolekulare Chemie <\/em>1961<\/strong>, 48<\/em>, <\/em>59-71.<\/p>\n

(8) Kennedy, J. P. Butyl Rubber Catalyst System Utilizing AlR2<\/sub>X with an HX Promoter U.S. Patent 3,349,065, 1967.<\/p>\n

(9) Kennedy, J. P. Olefin Polymerizations and Copolymerizations with Aluminum Alkyl-Cocatalyst Systems. I. Co-catalysis with Bronsted Acid Systems J. Polym Sci., Part A-1 <\/em>1968<\/strong>, 6<\/em>, <\/em>3139-3150.<\/p>\n

(10) Kennedy, J. P.; Gillham, J. K. Cationic Polymerization of Olefins with Alkylaluminum Initiators Adv. Polym. Sci. <\/em>1972<\/strong>, 10<\/em>, <\/em>1-33.<\/p>\n

(11) Tinyakova, E. I.; Zhuravleva, T. G.; Kurengina, T. M.; Kirikova, N. S.; Dolgoplosk, B. A. Dokl. Akad. Nauk <\/em>1962<\/strong>, 144<\/em>, <\/em>592.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

As I stated in the last blog, the current posting will contain another example of where \u201cKennedy\u201d stole an invention made previously by a famous scientist.\u00a0 Before getting to that particular case a little bit of digression is necessary to … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pb8bvA-8d","_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/innovscience.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/509"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/innovscience.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/innovscience.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/innovscience.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/innovscience.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=509"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"http:\/\/innovscience.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/509\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":512,"href":"http:\/\/innovscience.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/509\/revisions\/512"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/innovscience.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=509"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/innovscience.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=509"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/innovscience.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=509"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}