History Polystyrene was discovered in 1839 by Eduard Simon, an apothecary from Berlin.Simon, E. (1839) "Ueber den flüssigen Storax (Styrax liquidus)" [On liquid storax (Styrax liquidus)], Annalen der Chemie, 31 : 265–277. From storax, the resin of the Oriental sweetgum tree Liquidambar orientalis, he distilled an oily substance, that he named styrol, now called styrene. Several days later, Simon found that it had thickened into a jelly, now known to have been a polymer, that he dubbed styrol oxide ("Styroloxyd") because he presumed that it had resulted from oxidation (styrene oxide is a distinct compound). By 1845 Jamaican-born chemist John Buddle Blyth and German chemist August Wilhelm von Hofmann showed that the same transformation of styrol took place in the absence of oxygen.Blyth, John, and Hofmann, Aug. Wilh. (1845). "Ueber das Stryol und einige seiner Zersetzungsproducte" ("On styrol and some of its decomposition products"), Annalen der Chemie und Pharmacie, 53(3): 289–329. They called the product "meta styrol"; analysis showed that it was chemically identical to Simon's Styroloxyd.Blyth and Hofmann, 1845, p. 312. From p. 312: "Analysis, as well as synthesis, have equally demonstrated, that styrol and the solid, glassy material, for which we suggest the name 'meta styrol', possess the same percentage composition." In 1866 Marcellin Berthelot correctly identified the formation of meta styrol/Styroloxyd from styrol as a polymerisation process.Berthelot, M. (1866) "Sur Les caractères de la benzine et du styrolène, comparés avec ceux des Autres carburetors d'hydrogène" ("On the characters of benzene and styrene, compared with those of other hydrocarbons"), Bulletin de la Société Chimique de Paris, 2nd series, 6: 289–298. From p. 294: "On sait que le stryolène chauffé en vase scellé à 200°, pendant Quelques heures, se change en un polymère résineux (métastyrol), et que ce polymère, distillé brusquement, reproduit le styrolène." ("One knows that styrene [when] heated in a sealed vessel at 200 °C, for several hours, is changed into a resinous polymer (polystyrene), and that this polymer, [when] distilled abruptly, reproduces styrene.") About 80 years later it was realized that heating of styrol starts a chain reaction that produces macromolecules, following the thesis of German organic chemist Hermann Staudinger (1881–1965). This eventually led to the substance receiving its present name, polystyrene.
History Polystyrene was discovered in 1839 by Eduard Simon, an apothecary from Berlin.Simon, E. (1839) "Ueber den flüssigen Storax (Styrax liquidus)" [On liquid storax (Styrax liquidus)], Annalen der Chemie, 31 : 265–277. From storax, the resin of the Oriental sweetgum tree Liquidambar orientalis, he ?distilled an oily substance, that he named styrol, now called styrene. Several days later, Simon found that it had thickened into a jelly, now known to have been a polymer, that he dubbed styrol oxide ("Styroloxyd") because he presumed that it had resulted from oxidation (styrene oxide is a distinct compound). By 1845 Jamaican-born chemist John Buddle Blyth and German chemist August Wilhelm von Hofmann showed that the same transformation of styrol took place in the absence of oxygen.Blyth, John, and Hofmann, Aug. Wilh. (1845). "Ueber das Stryol und einige seiner Zersetzungsproducte" ("On styrol and some of its decomposition products"), Annalen der Chemie und Pharmacie, 53(3): 289–329. They called the product "meta styrol"; analysis showed that it was chemically identical to Simon's Styroloxyd.Blyth and Hofmann, 1845, p. 312. From p. 312: "Analysis, as well as synthesis, have equally demonstrated, that styrol and the solid, glassy material, for which we suggest the name 'meta styrol', possess the same percentage composition." In 1866 Marcellin Berthelot correctly identified the formation of meta styrol/Styroloxyd from styrol as a polymerisation process.Berthelot, M. (1866) "Sur Les caractères de la benzine et du styrolène, comparés avec ceux des Autres carburetors d'hydrogène" ("On the characters of benzene and styrene, compared with those of other hydrocarbons"), Bulletin de la Société Chimique de Paris, 2nd series, 6: .289–298. From p. 294: "On sait que le stryolène chauffé en vase scellé à 200°, pendant Quelques heures, se change en un polymère résineux (métastyrol), et que ce polymère, distillé brusquement, reproduit le styrolène." ("One knows that styrene [when] heated in a sealed vessel at 200 °C, for several hours, is changed into a resinous polymer (polystyrene), and that this polymer, [when] distilled abruptly, reproduces styrene.") About 80 years later it was realized that heating of styrol starts a chain reaction that produces macromolecules, following the thesis of German organic chemist Hermann Staudinger (1881–1965). This eventually led to the substance receiving its present name, polystyrene.