Début of synthetic resins Available to Purchase

Although as long ago as 1870 Adolf Bayer referred to a resinous substance formed from reacting phenols with aldehydes, with pyrogallol and benzaldehyde used in his experiments, this Bayer research attracted little or no interest even though in 1891 in the journal Annalen a paper by Kleeberg described a reaction between phenol and formaldehyde, two raw materials then becoming available in commerce. Kleeberg went further in converting the original viscous mass into a hard resin; yet there was still little interest until in 1899 a patent by A. Smith described a phenol‐formaldehyde resin as an alternative to ebonite for use as an electrical insulator. Smith extended the specification to include acetaldehyde and also referred to the use of solvents to control the vigorous reactions between phenols and aldehydes. In this early work A. Luft in Austria included camphor in producing resins as substitutes for celluloid.