Thomas Joseph Kealy (December 22, 1927 – May 17, 2012) was an

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

chemist.

Personal

He was born in 1927 to Thomas S. Kealy (from Ireland) and Josephine Kealy (born Frawley), in New York. He had three siblings, including John F. and Josephine Joan (married Clarke). Thomas married Patricia Weaver in 1953.

Education and career

Thomas graduated in 1950 from the

Manhattan College Manhattan College is a private, Catholic, liberal arts university in the Bronx, New York City. Originally established in 1853 by the Brothers of the Christian Schools (De La Salle Christian Brothers) as an academy for day students, it was la ...

, New York. In 1951, while a student at Duquesne University, he and his advisor

Peter Pauson Prof Peter Ludwig Israel Pauson FRSE FRIC (1925–2013) was a German–Jewish emigrant who settled in Britain and who is remembered for his contributions to chemistry, most notably the Pauson–Khand reaction and as joint discoverer of ferrocene ...

discovered the compound

ferrocene Ferrocene is an organometallic compound with the formula . The molecule is a complex consisting of two cyclopentadienyl rings bound to a central iron atom. It is an orange solid with a camphor-like odor, that sublimes above room temperature, a ...

by accident, while trying to prepare fulvalene. Their discovery revolutionized chemistry and created

organometallic chemistry Organometallic chemistry is the study of organometallic compounds, chemical compounds containing at least one chemical bond between a carbon atom of an organic molecule and a metal, including alkali, alkaline earth, and transition metals, and so ...

as a separate discipline. Between 1957 and 1967, at least, he was working as a research chemist for

DuPont DuPont de Nemours, Inc., commonly shortened to DuPont, is an American multinational chemical company first formed in 1802 by French-American chemist and industrialist Éleuthère Irénée du Pont de Nemours. The company played a major role in ...

in Delaware. His published research includes the addition reaction of phenols with

ethylene Ethylene (IUPAC name: ethene) is a hydrocarbon which has the formula or . It is a colourless, flammable gas with a faint "sweet and musky" odour when pure. It is the simplest alkene (a hydrocarbon with carbon-carbon double bonds). Ethylene i ...

, the chemistry of allene (propadiene, ), the synthesis of diazaquinones, the co-

dimer Dimer may refer to: * Dimer (chemistry), a chemical structure formed from two similar sub-units ** Protein dimer, a protein quaternary structure ** d-dimer * Dimer model, an item in statistical mechanics, based on ''domino tiling'' * Julius Dimer ( ...

ization of mono alkenes and conjugated dienes. He also filed a patent on synthesis of biciclooctenones in 1957, one on diazaquinones in 1960, and one on extrudable alkene copolymers in 1968.

References

Thomas Joseph Kealy
. MyHeritage genealogy website. Accessed on 2019-03-30. Arthur Greenberg (2014):
Chemistry: Decade by Decade
', page 181. Infobase Publishing, 470 pages. Jeffrey I. Seeman and Stuart Cantrill (2016): "Wrong but seminal". ''Nature Chemistry'', volume 8, pages 193–200. . T. J. Kealy and D. D. Coffman (1961): "Thermal Addition Reactions of Monocyclic Phenols with Ethylene". ''Journal of Organic Chemistry'', volume 26, issue 4, pages 987–992. T. J. Kealy and R. E. Benson (1961): "Chemistry of allene. IV. Carbonylation reactions of allene". ''Journal of Organic Chemistry'', volume 26, issue 9, pages 3126–3130. Thomas J. Kealy (1962): "The Chemistry of Diazaquinones: 3,6-Pyridazinedione and 1,4-Phthalazinedione". ''Journal of the American Chemical Society'', volume 84, issue 6, pages 966–973. Roy Glenn. Miller, Thomas J. Kealy, and Arthur L. Barney (1967): "Codimerization of α-olefins and conjugated dienes by a nickel-based coordination catalyst". ''J. Am. Chem. Soc.'', volume 89,issue 15, pages 3756–3761. Thomas J Kealy (1957):
Patent US2883425A: Method for preparing bicyclooctenones
. U. S. Patent Office. Assigned to E. I. du Pont de Nemours and Co. Filed 1957-01-31, granted 1959-04-21, expired 1976-04-21. Thomas J Kealy (1960):
Patent US3062820A: Pyridazino , 2-a">Patent US3062820A: Pyridazino[1, 2-a
pyridazine-1, 4-diones and pyridazino[1, 2-bphthalazine-6, 11-diones">, 2-a
pyridazine-1, 4-diones and pyridazino[1, 2-b">, 2-a">Patent US3062820A: Pyridazino[1, 2-a
pyridazine-1, 4-diones and pyridazino[1, 2-bphthalazine-6, 11-diones. U. S. Patent Office. Assigned to E. I. du Pont de Nemours and Co. Filed 1960-05-02, granted 1962-11-06, expired 1979-11-06. Thomas J Kealy (1968):
Patent US3627723A: Filler loaded elastomeric compositions having improved extrudability and physical properties
. U. S. Patent Office. Assigned to E. I. du Pont de Nemours and Co. Filed 1968-12-26, granted 1971-12-14, expired 1988-12-14. (2013) "In Memoriam". ''Manhattan College Alumni Magazine'', Fall 2012, published 2013-07-10, page 58, {{DEFAULTSORT:Kealy, Thomas J. 1927 births 2012 deaths Manhattan College alumni Duquesne University alumni