Reiwa Chemist Yōko Takatsukasa Reincarnation: Saving Japan with Plastic Material

Be Fond of Things

"The carbonyl carbons at both ends of adipoyl chloride are electrophilic because they are pulled by chlorine and oxygen. On the other hand, the amino groups at both ends of hexamethylenediamine are nucleophilic because the nitrogen has a lone pair of electrons. Therefore, the amine should attack the carbonyl carbon to form an amide bond. This should happen repeatedly at both ends of the molecule, resulting in the growth of a supergiant molecule, a 'polymer.' This is my hypothesis."

Yōko was explaining the reaction process and molecular structure of Nylon 66 to Professor Rikō Majima and Chika Kuroda, a third-year student, at the Majima Laboratory at Tōhoku University.

"Hmm, there are certainly no places where it is particularly broken. But..."

"This is based on the assumption that atoms are bonded by electrons..."

For Yōko, it was a theory that could be considered high school chemistry level at best. However, the concept of "covalent bonding" was not formalized until around 1916, so this was actually a cutting-edge discussion at the time.

"I am also not familiar with atomic theory, so I am not interested in whether atoms are really bonded by electrons, but whether the structure of PA66 is really as I hypothesized."

"You want us to figure that out?"

"Yes. I will cooperate as much as I can, so please could you do it?"

Organic electronic theory is an essential concept for the development of future organic and polymer chemistry, but Yōko had realized from experience that it did not seem to be well-established yet. If she could make this discovery and make Japan a leading country, she would be able to compete with Germany, which currently dominates the chemical world, and the United States, which was rapidly growing in the petrochemical field.

"That's right... Kuroda-kun, this is a request from your junior. Why don't you make this the theme of your bachelor's thesis, while also providing guidance to her?"

"...I understand. The structure determination of this one seems to be more popular than that of plant pigments."

"Thank you."

"No, no, this one seems quite interesting too, so it's okay."

Thus, Chika Kuroda's bachelor's thesis in this world became "On the Structure of Polyamides." This thesis was groundbreaking in two ways:

- It was the first in the world to mention "covalent bonding" and "organic electronic theory" to determine the structure of the repeating unit of Nylon 66 and explain its formation process (almost simultaneously with Gilbert Lewis in the United States).

- It was the first in the world to formally propose the existence of polymers in a scientific paper.

The thesis was met with mixed reactions in Japan, but Hermann Staudinger, who had been interested in Nylon 66 and had been keeping an eye on the Japanese organic chemistry world, praised Kuroda's thesis. With this confidence, Kuroda began to work on strengthening the polymer theory.

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I was surprised to learn while researching for this story that the concept of covalent bonding had not yet been announced. No wonder no one would believe a little girl saying something like that at the beginning of the story...

Yōko's name will probably be listed as a second author on Kuroda-sensei's bachelor's thesis. This is also a broad sense of "serves them right," isn't it?

- Toshitsugu Utei