In 1907, Leo Baekeland obtained bakelite (phenol-formaldehyde resin), the first synthetic polymer, destined to replace shellac (a natural biopolymer) in the components of the nascent electrical industry. The synthesis took place in a specially designed reactor, the bakelizer, where controlled temperature and reduced pressure allow the removal of condensation water: by exploiting Le Châtelier’s principle, the reaction equilibrium is shifted toward polymer formation, making the process irreversible and kinetically controlled.
The preparation of phenol-formaldehyde resin represented a milestone in chemistry and chemical engineering, laying the foundations for the subsequent development of synthetic polymers. From this perspective, it constitutes a classic example of polymerization logic, valuable both from a historical and didactic standpoint. A significant echo of this discovery can be found in Primo Levi’s The Periodic Table, in the story Sulfur.
Starting in 1936, Italy adopted an autarkic economy in response to the sanctions imposed by the League of Nations. In that context, polysulfide rubber, with its modest properties, was produced. Levi recounts the misadventure of a worker named Lanza, dealing with a bakelizer to obtain the prepolymer for the elastomer. With his extraordinary ability to merge science and literature, Levi transforms chemistry into poetic prose and a metaphor for the values of life.