In 1920 Sebrell isolated
mercaptobenzothiazole, an important rubber vulcanization accelerator from various reactions. Although well known since the 1880s, Sebrell's insight was that it is generated in situ during the zinc-catalyzed vulcanization of rubber. He devised ways of producing mercaptothiazole on a commercial scale. The new accelerator was named Captax. Captax, which was vital in achieving durable truck-tire compounds, was placed on the market in 1926. While at Goodyear, Sebrell held positions including Head of Organic Chemistry section, and Manager of Research in 1928. In 1933, Sebrell served as Chairman of the Rubber Division, ACS. During
World War II, Sebrell worked on bullet-sealing fuel tanks. In 1944, Sebrell was director of research at Goodyear. In 1942, Sebrell became the second recipient of the
Charles Goodyear Medal. His address was entitled
The Second Mile and it discussed
"the present status of the synthetic rubber situation". In 1949, Sebrell left Goodyear to take a position as
Director of research and development at
International Latex Corporation in
Dover, Delaware. He retired from this position in 1959. Sebrell died in
Hudson, Ohio on 5 August 1984 at the age of 89. == References ==