Murray Raney
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2007-04-21T13:38:30Z
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[[Image:Murray Raney.jpg|right|thumb|Murray Raney.]]
'''Murray Raney''' ([[October 14]] [[1885]] – [[March 3]] [[1966]]) was an [[United States|American]] [[mechanical engineering|mechanical engineer]] born in [[Carrollton, Kentucky]]. He was the developer of a [[nickel]] [[catalyst]] that became known as [[Raney nickel]], which is often used in industrial processes and scientific research for the [[hydrogenation]] of multiple [[covalent bond]]s present in [[molecule]]s.
==Biography==
Raney was born in Carrollton, Kentucky, to William Wallace and Katherine Raney. Without having attended [[high school]],<ref name="lucky">W.R. Grace & Co. (2004) [http://www.graceraney.com/history_murray_raney.htm History Murray Raney]. Retrieved [[December 25]], 2005.</ref> he obtained his [[Bachelor's degree]] in Mechanical Engineering from the [[University of Kentucky]] in [[1909]]. Following his graduation he became a [[teacher]] at the [[Eastern Kentucky University|Eastern Kentucky State Normal College]] and was also in charge of the heating and lighting facilities there until 1910.
From 1910 until 1911 he worked in the [[beater]] room of the Fort Orange Paper Company in [[Castleton-on-Hudson, New York]]. In 1911 he moved to [[Springfield, Illinois]] to work in the production of [[steam engine]]s at A. L. Ide Engine Company, where he stayed until 1913. That same year he moved to his final residence in [[Chattanooga, Tennessee]], to work for the [[Chattanooga Railway, Light & Power Co]] as a [[electricity|power]] salesman.
Raney joined the Lookout Oil & Refining Company in 1915. He was assigned to work as an assistant manager in the production of [[hydrogen]] used in the [[hydrogenation]] of [[vegetable oil]]s. It was during this time he started to work in the preparation of what later became known as "Raney" catalysts. He left Lookout Oil in 1925 to take a sales manager position at Gilman Paint and Varnish Co., eventually becoming president of the company. In 1950 he left Gilman Paint and founded the Raney Catalyst Company. He then started to dedicate full time to the production of his catalysts. This company was bought by [[W.R. Grace and Company]] in 1963 and still produces [[Raney nickel]] to this day.
Raney was twice married, first on [[June 12]] [[1920]], to Katherine Elizabeth Macrae (d. [[June 13]] [[1935]]) with whom he had one daughter. His second marriage was to Laura Ogden McClellan (d. [[April 13]] [[1953]]) on [[March 31]] [[1939]]. He was awarded an honorary [[Doctor of Science]] degree in 1951. He was member of the [[American Chemical Society]] and the [[American Oil Chemists Society]]. He was granted a total of six American and five [[Europe]]an [[patent]]s for the development of his catalysts and metallurgical processes needed for their preparation.<ref name="lucky"/>
==Development of Raney nickel==
During his time at Lookout Oil and Refining Raney was responsible the production of hydrogen which was used in the hydrogenation of vegetable oils. During that time the industry used a nickel catalyst prepared from [[nickel(II) oxide]]. Believing that better catalysts could be produced, around 1921 he started to perform independent research on this matter while still working for Lookout Oil. In 1924 he produced a nickel-[[silicon]] [[alloy]] which, after being treated with [[sodium hydroxide]], was found to be five times more active than the best catalyst used in the hydrogenation of [[cottonseed oil]]. He was granted a US patent for this discovery in 1925.<ref name="PatentNiSi>Raney, Murray (1925). "[http://www.fischer-tropsch.org/primary_documents/patents/US/us1563587.pdf Method of Preparing Catalytic Material]". ''US Patent 1563587'', issued [[1925-12-01]].</ref>
In 1926 Raney produced a nickel-[[aluminium]] alloy, also in a 1:1 [[ratio]], following a procedure similar to the one used for the nickel-silicon catalyst, and he found that the resulting catalyst was even more active than the previous one. This is catalyst, now commonly known now as [[Raney nickel]], was the subject of a patent he obtained in 1927.<ref name="PatentNiAl">Raney, Murray (1927). "[http://www.fischer-tropsch.org/primary_documents/patents/US/us1628190.pdf Method of producing Finely Divided Nickel]". ''US Patent 1628190'', issued [[1927-05-10]]</ref>
It may be of interest to note that Raney's choice of nickel-aluminium ratio was fortuitous and without any real scientific basis. However, this is the preferred alloy composition for production of Raney nickel catalysts currently in use. To this, Raney himself said in an interview "I was just lucky... I had an idea for a catalyst and it worked the first time."<ref name="lucky" />
==The Murray Raney Award==
In 1992 the [[Organic Reactions Catalysis Society]] (ORCS) created the '''Murray Raney Award''' "for contributions in the use of [[skeletal catalyst|sponge metal catalysts]] in organic synthesis". The award is given out every two years at the annual ORCS conference. [[As of 2006]] the following scientists have been recipients of the award:
*1992 – [[Stewart Montgomery]]
*1994 – [[Pierre Fouilloux]]
*1996 – [[Mark Wainwright]]
*1998 – [[Anatoly Fasman]]
*2000 – [[Jozsef PetrĂ³]]
*2002 – [[Akira Tai]]
*2004 – [[Jean Lessard]]
*2006 – [[Isamu Yamauchi]]
==Notes==
<references />
==References==
* University of Kentucky Alumni Association (2005). [http://www.ukalumni.net/distinguishedalums/hoda.php?id=181 UK Alumni Association - Hall of Distinguished Alumni]. Retrieved [[December 25]], 2005.
* ''Who's Who in the South and Southwest: a Biographical Dictionary of Noteworthy Men and Women of the Southern and Southwestern States.'' 6th ed. [[Chicago]]:Marquis - Who's Who. [[1959]].
* W.R. Grace & Co. (2004) [http://www.graceraney.com/history_murray_raney.htm History Murray Raney]. Retrieved [[December 25]], 2005.
* W.R. Grace & Co. (2004) [http://www.graceraney.com/ORCS.htm ORCS]. Retrieved [[December 25]], 2005.
==See also==
*[[Catalysis]]
[[Category:American engineers|Raney, Murray]]
[[Category:American inventors|Raney, Murray]]
[[Category:1885 births|Raney, Murray]]
[[Category:1966 deaths|Raney, Murray]]
[[fr:Murray Raney]]