William T. Miller
Encyclopedia
William T. Miller was a professor
of organic chemistry
at Cornell University
. His experimental research included investigations into the mechanism of addition of halogens
, especially fluorine
, to hydrocarbon
s. His work focused primarily on the physical and chemical properties of fluorocarbon
s and chlorofluorocarbon
s, and the synthesis
of novel electrophilic
reagent
s.
Miller carried out research into chemically resistant materials from which he developed the chlorofluorocarbon polymer
used in K-25
, the first gaseous diffusion
plant constructed for the separation of uranium isotopes
. The K-25 plant
was a crucial factor in the development of "Little Boy
" and other early nuclear weapons
. Miller was also the first to synthesize methoxyflurane
, a volatile inhalational anesthetic
.
, in 1911. He earned a bachelor's degree
in 1932 and a doctoral degree
in 1935, both from Duke University
. He was a Lilly
Fellow at Stanford University
from 1935 until 1936.
, especially the synthesis of chemically non-reactive chlorofluorocarbons.
, three methods of uranium enrichment
were under consideration: gaseous diffusion, thermal diffusion, and electromagnetic separation. The gaseous diffusion method involves passing uranium hexafluoride
(UF6) gas through a series of semipermeable membrane
s to achieve the separation of the fissionable
uranium-235
(235U) isotope
from the more abundant but non-fissile isotope uranium-238
(238U). It was first necessary however to develop non-reactive chemical compound
s that could be used as coating
s, lubricant
s and gasket
s for the surfaces which would come into contact with the UF6 gas, which is a highly reactive and corrosive substance. Because of Miller's expertise in organofluorine chemistry, he was recruited by scientists of the Manhattan Project to synthesize and develop such materials. Miller and his team succeeded in developing several novel non-reactive chlorofluorocarbon polymers, making possible the construction of the K-25 gaseous diffusion plant in Oak Ridge, Tennessee
that produced the uranium for some of the first nuclear weapons. For this effort, U.S. Army Major General
Leslie Groves
, the military leader of the Manhattan Project, sent Miller a letter of commendation, which read,
Miller's research during the Manhattan Project also included the first chemical synthesis of methoxyflurane, a halogenated ether
that was in clinical use as an inhalational anesthetic from 1960 until around 1974.
Research tower and the renovation of Baker Laboratory which occurred from 1968 to 1975. Miller was also a founding member of Kendall at Ithaca, a residential retirement community
organized by retired Cornell faculty.
award for Creative Work in Fluorine Chemistry, and in 1986 in Paris he won the Moissan Centenary Medal (named for Henri Moissan
, who discovered fluorine in 1886. To honor Miller's seventieth birthday, an entire issue of the Journal of Fluorine Chemistry was dedicated to Miller as a festschrift
in 1981. A professorship in the Chemistry Department at Cornell University is named in his honor. Miller was a member of the American Chemical Society and the Royal Society of Chemistry
.
Professor
A professor is a scholarly teacher; the precise meaning of the term varies by country. Literally, professor derives from Latin as a "person who professes" being usually an expert in arts or sciences; a teacher of high rank...
of organic chemistry
Organic chemistry
Organic chemistry is a subdiscipline within chemistry involving the scientific study of the structure, properties, composition, reactions, and preparation of carbon-based compounds, hydrocarbons, and their derivatives...
at Cornell University
Cornell University
Cornell University is an Ivy League university located in Ithaca, New York, United States. It is a private land-grant university, receiving annual funding from the State of New York for certain educational missions...
. His experimental research included investigations into the mechanism of addition of halogens
Halogenation
Halogenation is a chemical reaction that incorporates a halogen atom into a molecule in substitution of hydrogen atom. Halogenation takes place in the gas phase. There are four types of halogenation: fluorination, chlorination, bromination, and iodination...
, especially fluorine
Fluorine
Fluorine is the chemical element with atomic number 9, represented by the symbol F. It is the lightest element of the halogen column of the periodic table and has a single stable isotope, fluorine-19. At standard pressure and temperature, fluorine is a pale yellow gas composed of diatomic...
, to hydrocarbon
Hydrocarbon
In organic chemistry, a hydrocarbon is an organic compound consisting entirely of hydrogen and carbon. Hydrocarbons from which one hydrogen atom has been removed are functional groups, called hydrocarbyls....
s. His work focused primarily on the physical and chemical properties of fluorocarbon
Fluorocarbon
Fluorocarbons, sometimes referred to as perfluorocarbons or PFCs, are organofluorine compounds that contain only carbon and fluorine bonded together in strong carbon–fluorine bonds. Fluoroalkanes that contain only single bonds are more chemically and thermally stable than alkanes...
s and chlorofluorocarbon
Chlorofluorocarbon
A chlorofluorocarbon is an organic compound that contains carbon, chlorine, and fluorine, produced as a volatile derivative of methane and ethane. A common subclass are the hydrochlorofluorocarbons , which contain hydrogen, as well. They are also commonly known by the DuPont trade name Freon...
s, and the synthesis
Chemical synthesis
In chemistry, chemical synthesis is purposeful execution of chemical reactions to get a product, or several products. This happens by physical and chemical manipulations usually involving one or more reactions...
of novel electrophilic
Electrophile
In general electrophiles are positively charged species that are attracted to an electron rich centre. In chemistry, an electrophile is a reagent attracted to electrons that participates in a chemical reaction by accepting an electron pair in order to bond to a nucleophile...
reagent
Reagent
A reagent is a "substance or compound that is added to a system in order to bring about a chemical reaction, or added to see if a reaction occurs." Although the terms reactant and reagent are often used interchangeably, a reactant is less specifically a "substance that is consumed in the course of...
s.
Miller carried out research into chemically resistant materials from which he developed the chlorofluorocarbon polymer
Polymer
A polymer is a large molecule composed of repeating structural units. These subunits are typically connected by covalent chemical bonds...
used in K-25
K-25
K-25 is a former uranium enrichment facility of the Manhattan Project which used the gaseous diffusion method. The plant is located in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, on the southwestern end of the Oak Ridge Reservation.-History:...
, the first gaseous diffusion
Gaseous diffusion
Gaseous diffusion is a technology used to produce enriched uranium by forcing gaseous uranium hexafluoride through semi-permeable membranes. This produces a slight separation between the molecules containing uranium-235 and uranium-238 . By use of a large cascade of many stages, high separations...
plant constructed for the separation of uranium isotopes
Isotope separation
Isotope separation is the process of concentrating specific isotopes of a chemical element by removing other isotopes, for example separating natural uranium into enriched uranium and depleted uranium. This is a crucial process in the manufacture of uranium fuel for nuclear power stations, and is...
. The K-25 plant
Chemical plant
A chemical plant is an industrial process plant that manufactures chemicals, usually on a large scale. The general objective of a chemical plant is to create new material wealth via the chemical or biological transformation and or separation of materials. Chemical plants use special equipment,...
was a crucial factor in the development of "Little Boy
Little Boy
"Little Boy" was the codename of the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima on August 6, 1945 by the Boeing B-29 Superfortress Enola Gay, piloted by Colonel Paul Tibbets of the 393rd Bombardment Squadron, Heavy, of the United States Army Air Forces. It was the first atomic bomb to be used as a weapon...
" and other early nuclear weapons
Gun-type fission weapon
Gun-type fission weapons are fission-based nuclear weapons whose design assembles their fissile material into a supercritical mass by the use of the "gun" method: shooting one piece of sub-critical material into another...
. Miller was also the first to synthesize methoxyflurane
Methoxyflurane
Methoxyflurane is a halogenated ether that was in clinical use as an volatile inhalational anesthetic from its introduction by Joseph F. Artusio et al in 1960 until around 1974. It was first synthesized in the late 1940s by William T...
, a volatile inhalational anesthetic
Inhalational anaesthetic
An inhalational anaesthetic is a chemical compound possessing general anaesthetic properties that can be delivered via inhalation. They are administered by anaesthetists through an anaesthesia mask, laryngeal mask airway or tracheal tube connected to some type of anaesthetic vaporiser and an...
.
Early life and education
Miller was born in Winston-Salem, North CarolinaWinston-Salem, North Carolina
Winston-Salem is a city in the U.S. state of North Carolina, with a 2010 population of 229,617. Winston-Salem is the county seat and largest city of Forsyth County and the fourth-largest city in the state. Winston-Salem is the second largest municipality in the Piedmont Triad region and is home to...
, in 1911. He earned a bachelor's degree
Bachelor's degree
A bachelor's degree is usually an academic degree awarded for an undergraduate course or major that generally lasts for three or four years, but can range anywhere from two to six years depending on the region of the world...
in 1932 and a doctoral degree
Doctorate
A doctorate is an academic degree or professional degree that in most countries refers to a class of degrees which qualify the holder to teach in a specific field, A doctorate is an academic degree or professional degree that in most countries refers to a class of degrees which qualify the holder...
in 1935, both from Duke University
Duke University
Duke University is a private research university located in Durham, North Carolina, United States. Founded by Methodists and Quakers in the present day town of Trinity in 1838, the school moved to Durham in 1892. In 1924, tobacco industrialist James B...
. He was a Lilly
Eli Lilly
Eli Lilly was the founder of Eli Lilly and Company.Eli Lilly may also refer to:* Eli Lilly and Company, a global pharmaceutical company...
Fellow at Stanford University
Stanford University
The Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University or Stanford, is a private research university on an campus located near Palo Alto, California. It is situated in the northwestern Santa Clara Valley on the San Francisco Peninsula, approximately northwest of San...
from 1935 until 1936.
Early career
Miller came to the Chemistry Department at Cornell University as an instructor in late 1936. His research focused on organofluorine chemistryOrganofluorine chemistry
Organofluorine chemistry describes the chemistry of organofluorine compounds, organic compounds that contain the carbon–fluorine bond. Organofluorine compounds find diverse applications ranging from oil- and water-repellents to pharmaceuticals, refrigerants and reagents in catalysis...
, especially the synthesis of chemically non-reactive chlorofluorocarbons.
Manhattan Project
In 1942, at the outset of the Manhattan ProjectManhattan Project
The Manhattan Project was a research and development program, led by the United States with participation from the United Kingdom and Canada, that produced the first atomic bomb during World War II. From 1942 to 1946, the project was under the direction of Major General Leslie Groves of the US Army...
, three methods of uranium enrichment
Enriched uranium
Enriched uranium is a kind of uranium in which the percent composition of uranium-235 has been increased through the process of isotope separation. Natural uranium is 99.284% 238U isotope, with 235U only constituting about 0.711% of its weight...
were under consideration: gaseous diffusion, thermal diffusion, and electromagnetic separation. The gaseous diffusion method involves passing uranium hexafluoride
Uranium hexafluoride
Uranium hexafluoride , referred to as "hex" in the nuclear industry, is a compound used in the uranium enrichment process that produces fuel for nuclear reactors and nuclear weapons. It forms solid grey crystals at standard temperature and pressure , is highly toxic, reacts violently with water...
(UF6) gas through a series of semipermeable membrane
Semipermeable membrane
A semipermeable membrane, also termed a selectively permeable membrane, a partially permeable membrane or a differentially permeable membrane, is a membrane that will allow certain molecules or ions to pass through it by diffusion and occasionally specialized "facilitated diffusion".The rate of...
s to achieve the separation of the fissionable
Fissile
In nuclear engineering, a fissile material is one that is capable of sustaining a chain reaction of nuclear fission. By definition, fissile materials can sustain a chain reaction with neutrons of any energy. The predominant neutron energy may be typified by either slow neutrons or fast neutrons...
uranium-235
Uranium-235
- References :* .* DOE Fundamentals handbook: Nuclear Physics and Reactor theory , .* A piece of U-235 the size of a grain of rice can produce energy equal to that contained in three tons of coal or fourteen barrels of oil. -External links:* * * one of the earliest articles on U-235 for the...
(235U) isotope
Isotope
Isotopes are variants of atoms of a particular chemical element, which have differing numbers of neutrons. Atoms of a particular element by definition must contain the same number of protons but may have a distinct number of neutrons which differs from atom to atom, without changing the designation...
from the more abundant but non-fissile isotope uranium-238
Uranium-238
Uranium-238 is the most common isotope of uranium found in nature. It is not fissile, but is a fertile material: it can capture a slow neutron and after two beta decays become fissile plutonium-239...
(238U). It was first necessary however to develop non-reactive chemical compound
Chemical compound
A chemical compound is a pure chemical substance consisting of two or more different chemical elements that can be separated into simpler substances by chemical reactions. Chemical compounds have a unique and defined chemical structure; they consist of a fixed ratio of atoms that are held together...
s that could be used as coating
Coating
Coating is a covering that is applied to the surface of an object, usually referred to as the substrate. In many cases coatings are applied to improve surface properties of the substrate, such as appearance, adhesion, wetability, corrosion resistance, wear resistance, and scratch resistance...
s, lubricant
Lubricant
A lubricant is a substance introduced to reduce friction between moving surfaces. It may also have the function of transporting foreign particles and of distributing heat...
s and gasket
Gasket
thumb|sright|250px|Some seals and gaskets1. [[o-ring]]2. fiber [[Washer |washer]]3. paper gaskets4. [[cylinder head]] [[head gasket|gasket]]...
s for the surfaces which would come into contact with the UF6 gas, which is a highly reactive and corrosive substance. Because of Miller's expertise in organofluorine chemistry, he was recruited by scientists of the Manhattan Project to synthesize and develop such materials. Miller and his team succeeded in developing several novel non-reactive chlorofluorocarbon polymers, making possible the construction of the K-25 gaseous diffusion plant in Oak Ridge, Tennessee
Oak Ridge, Tennessee
Oak Ridge is a city in Anderson and Roane counties in the eastern part of the U.S. state of Tennessee, about west of Knoxville. Oak Ridge's population was 27,387 at the 2000 census...
that produced the uranium for some of the first nuclear weapons. For this effort, U.S. Army Major General
Major general (United States)
In the United States Army, United States Marine Corps, and United States Air Force, major general is a two-star general-officer rank, with the pay grade of O-8. Major general ranks above brigadier general and below lieutenant general...
Leslie Groves
Leslie Groves
Lieutenant General Leslie Richard Groves, Jr. was a United States Army Corps of Engineers officer who oversaw the construction of the Pentagon and directed the Manhattan Project that developed the atomic bomb during World War II. As the son of a United States Army chaplain, Groves lived at a...
, the military leader of the Manhattan Project, sent Miller a letter of commendation, which read,
Miller's research during the Manhattan Project also included the first chemical synthesis of methoxyflurane, a halogenated ether
Halogenated ether
A halogenated ether is a subcategory of a larger group of chemicals known as ethers. An ether is an organic chemical that contains an ether group — an oxygen atom connected to two alkyl groups...
that was in clinical use as an inhalational anesthetic from 1960 until around 1974.
Later career
Miller became a full professor in 1947, and remained in that position until his retirement in 1977. Miller chaired the committees that planned the construction of the Spencer T. OlinSpencer Truman Olin
Spencer Truman Olin was an American industrialist and philanthropist. He was an executive of the Olin Corporation, founded in 1892 by his father, Franklin W. Olin...
Research tower and the renovation of Baker Laboratory which occurred from 1968 to 1975. Miller was also a founding member of Kendall at Ithaca, a residential retirement community
Retirement community
A retirement community, or active adult community, is a very broad, generic term that covers many varieties of housing for retirees and seniors - especially designed or geared for people who no longer work, or restricted to those over a certain age . It differs from a retirement home which is a...
organized by retired Cornell faculty.
Selected publications
Click here to see a list of some of Miller's more important publications.Awards, honors and societies
In 1974, Miller received the American Chemical SocietyAmerican Chemical Society
The American Chemical Society is a scientific society based in the United States that supports scientific inquiry in the field of chemistry. Founded in 1876 at New York University, the ACS currently has more than 161,000 members at all degree-levels and in all fields of chemistry, chemical...
award for Creative Work in Fluorine Chemistry, and in 1986 in Paris he won the Moissan Centenary Medal (named for Henri Moissan
Henri Moissan
Ferdinand Frederick Henri Moissan was a French chemist who won the 1906 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for his work in isolating fluorine from its compounds.-Biography:...
, who discovered fluorine in 1886. To honor Miller's seventieth birthday, an entire issue of the Journal of Fluorine Chemistry was dedicated to Miller as a festschrift
Festschrift
In academia, a Festschrift , is a book honoring a respected person, especially an academic, and presented during his or her lifetime. The term, borrowed from German, could be translated as celebration publication or celebratory writing...
in 1981. A professorship in the Chemistry Department at Cornell University is named in his honor. Miller was a member of the American Chemical Society and the Royal Society of Chemistry
Royal Society of Chemistry
The Royal Society of Chemistry is a learned society in the United Kingdom with the goal of "advancing the chemical sciences." It was formed in 1980 from the merger of the Chemical Society, the Royal Institute of Chemistry, the Faraday Society and the Society for Analytical Chemistry with a new...
.