Discovery of Nylon 66 by Wallace Carothers
Nylon is a generic name for a synthetic linear polymer with repeating amide groups (-NH-CO-) which is used in the manufacture of textile fibres. Carothers produced Nylon 66 by condensation reaction of adipic acid and hexamethylenediamine, to give the [-NH-(CH2)6-NH-CO(CH2)4-CO-] repeating unit. Nylon revolutionised the textile industry and was the forerunner for many of today's modern, synthetic fabrics.
