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68-625: Hercules, Inc. was a chemical and munitions manufacturing company based in Wilmington, Delaware , United States, incorporated in 1912 as the Hercules Powder Company following the breakup of the DuPont explosives monopoly by the U.S. Circuit Court in 1911. Hercules Powder Company became Hercules, Inc. in 1966, operating under this name until 2008, when it was merged into Ashland Inc. An earlier Hercules Powder Company

136-791: A Paper Technology Division (PTD) whose products were slowly becoming commodities. To survive, this division needed to obtain new products. First, Hercules Inc., tried to purchase the Allied Colloids Company, but this was not successful. Next, Hercules bought the Betz-Dearborn Corporation. Betz-Dearborn produced mostly chemicals for paper processing, and the Hercules PTD produced mainly functional chemicals for paper. According to some business analysts, Hercules Inc. paid about three times as much for Betz-Dearborn as compared with its actual value. Soon after

204-452: A chemical reaction form a chemical compound . All compounds are substances, but not all substances are compounds. A chemical compound can be either atoms bonded together in molecules or crystals in which atoms, molecules or ions form a crystalline lattice . Compounds based primarily on carbon and hydrogen atoms are called organic compounds , and all others are called inorganic compounds . Compounds containing bonds between carbon and

272-678: A database and is popularly known as the Chemical substances index. Other computer-friendly systems that have been developed for substance information are: SMILES and the International Chemical Identifier or InChI. Often a pure substance needs to be isolated from a mixture , for example from a natural source (where a sample often contains numerous chemical substances) or after a chemical reaction (which often gives mixtures of chemical substances). Stoichiometry ( / ˌ s t ɔɪ k i ˈ ɒ m ɪ t r i / )

340-574: A mixture , referencing them in the chemical substances index allows CAS to offer specific guidance on standard naming of alloy compositions. Non-stoichiometric compounds are another special case from inorganic chemistry , which violate the requirement for constant composition. For these substances, it may be difficult to draw the line between a mixture and a compound, as in the case of palladium hydride . Broader definitions of chemicals or chemical substances can be found, for example: "the term 'chemical substance' means any organic or inorganic substance of

408-618: A "ligand". However, the center does not need to be a metal, as exemplified by boron trifluoride etherate BF 3 OEt 2 , where the highly Lewis acidic , but non-metallic boron center takes the role of the "metal". If the ligand bonds to the metal center with multiple atoms, the complex is called a chelate . In organic chemistry, there can be more than one chemical compound with the same composition and molecular weight. Generally, these are called isomers . Isomers usually have substantially different chemical properties, and often may be isolated without spontaneously interconverting. A common example

476-495: A 97,000 square foot administration building. One of its major solid-fuel rocket products was the third-stage engine for the three -stage solid-fueled Minuteman intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) for the U.S. Air Force, of which 1,000 were made and deployed at Air Force Bases in several northern states during the 1960s. In addition, all of the missiles of the Minuteman I series were removed from service and replaced with

544-676: A breakup of its explosives and gunpowder manufacturing business. The breakup resulted in the creation of two new companies in 1912, Atlas Powder Company and Hercules Powder Company. Atlas received the explosives manufacturing portion of Du Pont's business (including the facilities acquired from the Giant Powder Company), while Hercules received the gunpowder portion. The first management team of this new Hercules Powder Company included President H. Dunham, T.W. Bacchus, G.G. Rheuby, J.T Skelly, Norman Rood, Fred Stark, C.D. Prickett, and George Markell. Some of their products were used by

612-416: A chemical reaction takes place and a new substance is formed, the compound iron(II) sulfide , with chemical formula FeS. The resulting compound has all the properties of a chemical substance and is not a mixture. Iron(II) sulfide has its own distinct properties such as melting point and solubility , and the two elements cannot be separated using normal mechanical processes; a magnet will be unable to recover

680-562: A major source of revenue for Hercules, Inc. During the 1960s, Hercules, Inc., also made solid-fuel rocket motors for hundreds of the U.S. Army's Honest John missile , a mobile tactical missile for carrying tactical nuclear weapons for U.S. Army divisions. The Honest John missile was mostly deployed with the U.S. Seventh Army in West Germany as part of the American commitment to NATO to defend Western Europe against aggression from

748-436: A metal are called organometallic compounds . Compounds in which components share electrons are known as covalent compounds. Compounds consisting of oppositely charged ions are known as ionic compounds, or salts . Coordination complexes are compounds where a dative bond keeps the substance together without a covalent or ionic bond. Coordination complexes are distinct substances with distinct properties different from

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816-556: A new site along the northeast shore of San Francisco Bay . The company town that grew up around the facility became known as "Hercules", later (1900) incorporated as Hercules, California . In 1882, thanks to their interlocking ownership interests with the California Powder Works by that time, the DuPont corporation and Laflin & Rand Powder Company acquired the rights to manufacture Hercules powder and incorporated

884-462: A particular molecular identity, including – (i) any combination of such substances occurring in whole or in part as a result of a chemical reaction or occurring in nature". In the field of geology , inorganic solid substances of uniform composition are known as minerals . When two or more minerals are combined to form mixtures (or aggregates ), they are defined as rocks . Many minerals, however, mutually dissolve into solid solutions , such that

952-486: A primary producer of these, especially for the U.S. Department of Defense , U.S. Air Force , U.S. Navy , and U.S. Army – and to a lesser degree for the civilian National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). In 1961, the company hired contractors C.H. Leavell & Company, Morrison-Knudsen , and Alaskan Plumbing and Heating Company to expand the existing Bacchus Works site. The government-owned, contractor-operated "Air Force Plant 81" added 97 buildings, including

1020-437: A separate chemical substance. However, the polymer may be defined by a known precursor or reaction(s) and the molar mass distribution . For example, polyethylene is a mixture of very long chains of -CH 2 - repeating units, and is generally sold in several molar mass distributions, LDPE , MDPE , HDPE and UHMWPE . The concept of a "chemical substance" became firmly established in the late eighteenth century after work by

1088-468: A significant number of its divisions that had not been profitable for the company. This caused the price of shares of common stock in Hercules to rise above US$ 70 . Several successful cost-savings programs were implemented in addition to buying back its own shares . Also at that time, Hercules had a significant amount of assets available for possible purchases of other corporations. Hercules, Inc., had

1156-400: A simple mixture. Typically these have a metal, such as a copper ion, in the center and a nonmetals atom, such as the nitrogen in an ammonia molecule or oxygen in water in a water molecule, forms a dative bond to the metal center, e.g. tetraamminecopper(II) sulfate [Cu(NH 3 ) 4 ]SO 4 ·H 2 O. The metal is known as a "metal center" and the substance that coordinates to the center is called

1224-479: A single chemical substance ( allotropes ). For instance, oxygen exists as both diatomic oxygen (O 2 ) and ozone (O 3 ). The majority of elements are classified as metals . These are elements with a characteristic lustre such as iron , copper , and gold . Metals typically conduct electricity and heat well, and they are malleable and ductile . Around 14 to 21 elements, such as carbon , nitrogen , and oxygen , are classified as non-metals . Non-metals lack

1292-430: A single manufacturing process. For example, charcoal is an extremely complex, partially polymeric mixture that can be defined by its manufacturing process. Therefore, although the exact chemical identity is unknown, identification can be made with a sufficient accuracy. The CAS index also includes mixtures. Polymers almost always appear as mixtures of molecules of multiple molar masses, each of which could be considered

1360-726: A single rock is a uniform substance despite being a mixture in stoichiometric terms. Feldspars are a common example: anorthoclase is an alkali aluminum silicate, where the alkali metal is interchangeably either sodium or potassium. In law, "chemical substances" may include both pure substances and mixtures with a defined composition or manufacturing process. For example, the EU regulation REACH defines "monoconstituent substances", "multiconstituent substances" and "substances of unknown or variable composition". The latter two consist of multiple chemical substances; however, their identity can be established either by direct chemical analysis or reference to

1428-499: A technical specification instead of particular chemical substances. For example, gasoline is not a single chemical compound or even a particular mixture: different gasolines can have very different chemical compositions, as "gasoline" is primarily defined through source, properties and octane rating . Every chemical substance has one or more systematic names , usually named according to the IUPAC rules for naming . An alternative system

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1496-450: A wide variety of pulp and paper applications. Functional chemicals can be divided in three main groups. Wet strength resins, Rosin sizes and AKD -sizes. Significant persons developing functional chemicals in Hercules could be mentioned: Dr. Keim on his efforts developing PAE wet strength resin, Mr Kai Kiviö on his efforts on developing cationic rosin size. Basis of AKD -technology Hercules acquired more or less voluntary from German BASF after

1564-442: A yellow-grey mixture. No chemical process occurs, and the material can be identified as a mixture by the fact that the sulfur and the iron can be separated by a mechanical process, such as using a magnet to attract the iron away from the sulfur. In contrast, if iron and sulfur are heated together in a certain ratio (1 atom of iron for each atom of sulfur, or by weight, 56 grams (1 mol ) of iron to 32 grams (1 mol) of sulfur),

1632-436: Is glucose vs. fructose . The former is an aldehyde , the latter is a ketone . Their interconversion requires either enzymatic or acid-base catalysis . However, tautomers are an exception: the isomerization occurs spontaneously in ordinary conditions, such that a pure substance cannot be isolated into its tautomers, even if these can be identified spectroscopically or even isolated in special conditions. A common example

1700-704: Is glucose , which has open-chain and ring forms. One cannot manufacture pure open-chain glucose because glucose spontaneously cyclizes to the hemiacetal form. All matter consists of various elements and chemical compounds, but these are often intimately mixed together. Mixtures contain more than one chemical substance, and they do not have a fixed composition. Butter , soil and wood are common examples of mixtures. Sometimes, mixtures can be separated into their component substances by mechanical processes, such as chromatography , distillation , or evaporation . Grey iron metal and yellow sulfur are both chemical elements, and they can be mixed together in any ratio to form

1768-592: Is a chemical substance made up of a particular kind of atom and hence cannot be broken down or transformed by a chemical reaction into a different element, though it can be transmuted into another element through a nuclear reaction . This is because all of the atoms in a sample of an element have the same number of protons , though they may be different isotopes , with differing numbers of neutrons . As of 2019, there are 118 known elements, about 80 of which are stable – that is, they do not change by radioactive decay into other elements. Some elements can occur as more than

1836-402: Is an example of complete combustion . Stoichiometry measures these quantitative relationships, and is used to determine the amount of products and reactants that are produced or needed in a given reaction. Describing the quantitative relationships among substances as they participate in chemical reactions is known as reaction stoichiometry . In the example above, reaction stoichiometry measures

1904-417: Is an example of a chemical substance, with a constant composition of two hydrogen atoms bonded to a single oxygen atom (i.e. H 2 O). The atomic ratio of hydrogen to oxygen is always 2:1 in every molecule of water. Pure water will tend to boil near 100 °C (212 °F), an example of one of the characteristic properties that define it. Other notable chemical substances include diamond (a form of

1972-411: Is the relationships among the weights of reactants and products before, during, and following chemical reactions . Stoichiometry is founded on the law of conservation of mass where the total mass of the reactants equals the total mass of the products, leading to the insight that the relations among quantities of reactants and products typically form a ratio of positive integers. This means that if

2040-497: Is used by the Chemical Abstracts Service (CAS). Many compounds are also known by their more common, simpler names, many of which predate the systematic name. For example, the long-known sugar glucose is now systematically named 6-(hydroxymethyl)oxane-2,3,4,5-tetrol. Natural products and pharmaceuticals are also given simpler names, for example the mild pain-killer Naproxen is the more common name for

2108-575: The Minuteman II and Minuteman III series of more-advanced ICBMs. Hence, the Minuteman ICBM program was a huge project and a major source of revenue for Hercules, Inc. The site of Air Force Plant 81 is the subject of a Utah Division of Environmental Response and Remediation assessment. Hercules, Inc., also produced the solid-fueled rocket motors for the two-stage Polaris missile system of intermediate-range ballistic missiles (IRBMs) for

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2176-522: The Warsaw Pact , using nuclear weapons on Eastern Europe, if necessary. None of the Honest John, Minuteman, Polaris, or Poseidon has ever been used in combat, and the threat of nuclear war has been sufficient to deter aggression and make it unnecessary to use nuclear weapons for defense. During the 1970s and 80s, the Honest John missile was removed from deployment, scrapped, and replaced by

2244-529: The 1920s, Hercules entered the pine resin products business, a development which followed upon the faster clearing of forests for lumber and farmland, especially in the southeast U.S., around the time of the First World War. The clearings had left many stumps which had to be removed, often with dynamite supplied by Hercules and others. Hercules itself was a consumer of wood pulp, a key ingredient in their dynamite. The increasing surplus of wood pulp led

2312-553: The 2010 Nobel Prize in Chemistry , gained experience with transition metal chemistry while working at Hercules in 1957. In 1966, the Hercules Powder Company changed its name to Hercules, Inc. In 1995, Hercules, Inc. sold its subsidiary Hercules Aerospace Co. to Alliant Techsystems Inc. The sale included all of what remained of Hercules' gunpowder lines. By the end of the 1990s, Hercules Inc., had sold off

2380-741: The Greener Synthetic Pathways category in developing and commercializing a formaldehyde-free adhesive made from soy flour and Hercules' unique polymer chemistries. Chemical Chemical substances can exist in several different physical states or phases (e.g. solids , liquids , gases , or plasma ) without changing their chemical composition. Substances transition between these phases of matter in response to changes in temperature or pressure . Some chemical substances can be combined or converted into new substances by means of chemical reactions . Chemicals that do not possess this ability are said to be inert . Pure water

2448-692: The Hercules Powder Company for that purpose. In 1904, Du Pont dissolved the company as part of its ongoing effort to consolidate the many explosives manufacturers that it controlled under the Du Pont name. In 1911, the United States won a lawsuit that it had brought against the Du Pont corporation under the Sherman Antitrust Act . The U.S. Circuit Court in Delaware found that Du Pont had been operating an unlawful monopoly, and ordered

2516-773: The Magna community. The growing availability of jobs was one factor encouraging subdivision development in the Magna, Kearns and West Valley areas. Hercules Powder Company ranked 65th among United States corporations in the value of World War II military production contracts. On September 12, 1940, the Kenvil, New Jersey plant suffered a major explosion . News reports at the time estimated at least fifteen buildings were destroyed along with twenty-five tons of explosives. Fifty-one people were killed outright with perhaps two hundred injured and many missing. This facility also exploded twice in 1934 and again in 1989. Richard F. Heck , recipient of

2584-577: The Polaris A-2; and then all that had been armed with the Polaris A-2 were upgraded to the Polaris A-3. For some of the early Polaris submarines, the Polaris A-3 was the end of their upgrades, but a large number of them (about 31) were further rearmed with the more-advanced and longer-ranged two-stage Poseidon C-3 missile . Hence, the Polaris missile submarine program was also a huge project and

2652-466: The Second World War. Ventures produces specialty chemicals for a variety of markets, including adhesives and sealants, paints, inks, coatings, lubricants, rubber, plastics, and building and construction. Hercules Incorporated, in collaboration with Professor Kaichang Li of Oregon State University and Columbia Forest Products, received a 2007 Presidential Green Chemistry Challenge Award for

2720-477: The U.S. Navy in its 41 for Freedom series of 41 George Washington class ballistic missile submarines . These nuclear submarines carried 16 Polaris missiles apiece for a grand total of 656 missiles. In addition, the Polaris series consisted of the successively-improved Polaris A-1, Polaris A-2, and Polaris A-3 missiles. The early Polaris submarines that had been armed with the Polaris A-1 were upgraded to

2788-532: The amounts of the separate reactants are known, then the amount of the product can be calculated. Conversely, if one reactant has a known quantity and the quantity of the products can be empirically determined, then the amount of the other reactants can also be calculated. This is illustrated in the image here, where the balanced equation is: Here, one molecule of methane reacts with two molecules of oxygen gas to yield one molecule of carbon dioxide and two molecules of water . This particular chemical equation

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2856-501: The application, but higher tolerance of impurities is usually expected in the production of bulk chemicals. Thus, the user of the chemical in the US might choose between the bulk or "technical grade" with higher amounts of impurities or a much purer "pharmaceutical grade" (labeled "USP", United States Pharmacopeia ). "Chemicals" in the commercial and legal sense may also include mixtures of highly variable composition, as they are products made to

2924-408: The chemical combination of the known chemical elements. As of Feb 2021, about "177 million organic and inorganic substances" (including 68 million defined-sequence biopolymers) are in the scientific literature and registered in public databases. The names of many of these compounds are often nontrivial and hence not very easy to remember or cite accurately. Also, it is difficult to keep track of them in

2992-451: The chemical compound (S)-6-methoxy-α-methyl-2-naphthaleneacetic acid. Chemists frequently refer to chemical compounds using chemical formulae or molecular structure of the compound. There has been a phenomenal growth in the number of chemical compounds being synthesized (or isolated), and then reported in the scientific literature by professional chemists around the world. An enormous number of chemical compounds are possible through

3060-460: The chemical industry, manufactured "chemicals" are chemical substances, which can be classified by production volume into bulk chemicals, fine chemicals and chemicals found in research only: The cause of the difference in production volume is the complexity of the molecular structure of the chemical. Bulk chemicals are usually much less complex. While fine chemicals may be more complex, many of them are simple enough to be sold as "building blocks" in

3128-402: The chemical substances of which fruits and vegetables, for example, are naturally composed even when growing wild are not called "chemicals" in general usage. In countries that require a list of ingredients in products, the "chemicals" listed are industrially produced "chemical substances". The word "chemical" is also often used to refer to addictive, narcotic, or mind-altering drugs. Within

3196-419: The chemist Joseph Proust on the composition of some pure chemical compounds such as basic copper carbonate . He deduced that, "All samples of a compound have the same composition; that is, all samples have the same proportions, by mass, of the elements present in the compound." This is now known as the law of constant composition . Later with the advancement of methods for chemical synthesis particularly in

3264-528: The company to the idea of producing other things from it, namely, the various chemicals that were present in pine resin. They set up production sites such as the one in Hattiesburg, Mississippi , and Brunswick, Georgia for this express purpose, and added to their raw supply by offering to take or buy tree stumps from farmers. Beginning in 1959, Hercules, Inc., began to diversify into the production of large solid-propellant rocket motors, and it soon became

3332-531: The element carbon ), table salt (NaCl; an ionic compound ), and refined sugar (C 12 H 22 O 11 ; an organic compound ). In addition to the generic definition offered above, there are several niche fields where the term "chemical substance" may take alternate usages that are widely accepted, some of which are outlined in the sections below. Chemical Abstracts Service (CAS) lists several alloys of uncertain composition within their chemical substance index. While an alloy could be more closely defined as

3400-529: The exclusive U.S. rights to Alfred Nobel 's original dynamite formula. The mythological Hercules was known as a giant slayer. The California Powder Works became the only manufacturer of Hercules powder. In 1877, J.W. Willard moved to Cleveland , Ohio to oversee the opening of a new California Powder Works plant there, dedicated to the manufacture of Hercules powder. In 1881, the California Powder Works moved its Hercules powder manufacturing in California to

3468-398: The idea of stereoisomerism – that atoms have rigid three-dimensional structure and can thus form isomers that differ only in their three-dimensional arrangement – was another crucial step in understanding the concept of distinct chemical substances. For example, tartaric acid has three distinct isomers, a pair of diastereomers with one diastereomer forming two enantiomers . An element

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3536-414: The iron, since there is no metallic iron present in the compound. While the term chemical substance is a precise technical term that is synonymous with chemical for chemists, the word chemical is used in general usage to refer to both (pure) chemical substances and mixtures (often called compounds ), and especially when produced or purified in a laboratory or an industrial process. In other words,

3604-425: The large number of chemical substances reported in chemistry literature need to be indexed. Isomerism caused much consternation to early researchers, since isomers have exactly the same composition, but differ in configuration (arrangement) of the atoms. For example, there was much speculation about the chemical identity of benzene , until the correct structure was described by Friedrich August Kekulé . Likewise,

3672-400: The latter producing 37% and 68% respectively. Aqualon produces products for physical property modification of aqueous systems which are sold into a wide variety of industries including personal care, food additives, and construction. Paper Technologies produces specialty chemicals to the pulp and paper industry . These products include functional, process, and water treatment chemicals for

3740-409: The literature. Several international organizations like IUPAC and CAS have initiated steps to make such tasks easier. CAS provides the abstracting services of the chemical literature, and provides a numerical identifier, known as CAS registry number to each chemical substance that has been reported in the chemical literature (such as chemistry journals and patents ). This information is compiled as

3808-411: The metallic properties described above, they also have a high electronegativity and a tendency to form negative ions . Certain elements such as silicon sometimes resemble metals and sometimes resemble non-metals, and are known as metalloids . A chemical compound is a chemical substance that is composed of a particular set of atoms or ions . Two or more elements combined into one substance through

3876-531: The military in World War I. In the 1920s and 30s, Hercules diversified into the pine resin products business (see below). A school and a plant were named after T. W. Bacchus in Bacchus, Utah . By the 1960s, the community was experiencing the first signs of a suburban transition. The Hercules Powder Co., once a small dynamite manufacturing firm, had begun producing rocket motors at its Bacchus Works south of

3944-576: The more-advanced Lance missile by the U.S. Army in Europe . Of all of the missiles mentioned above, only a reduced number of the Minuteman missiles remain in service at Air Force Bases in the United States, with all of the others having been removed from deployment and scrapped, along with all of the Polaris and Poseidon submarines. For space exploration and satellite launches by the U.S. Air Force and NASA , Hercules, Inc., developed and manufactured

4012-596: The purchase of Betz-Dearborn, the price per share of stock in Hercules Inc., had dropped from above US$ 70 to below US$ 10. It has been speculated that Hercules Inc., was close to going bankrupt after this failed purchase operation. Afterwards, several senior managers were forced out of the company because of this failure; however, a significant amount of former PTD senior managers were able to keep their positions within Hercules. The price of stock shares in Hercules Inc. never recovered from this debacle. Finally, Hercules Inc.

4080-410: The realm of organic chemistry ; the discovery of many more chemical elements and new techniques in the realm of analytical chemistry used for isolation and purification of elements and compounds from chemicals that led to the establishment of modern chemistry , the concept was defined as is found in most chemistry textbooks. However, there are some controversies regarding this definition mainly because

4148-443: The relationship between the quantities of methane and oxygen that react to form carbon dioxide and water. Because of the well known relationship of moles to atomic weights , the ratios that are arrived at by stoichiometry can be used to determine quantities by weight in a reaction described by a balanced equation. This is called composition stoichiometry . Kenvil, New Jersey Too Many Requests If you report this error to

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4216-454: The synthesis of more complex molecules targeted for single use, as named above. The production of a chemical includes not only its synthesis but also its purification to eliminate by-products and impurities involved in the synthesis. The last step in production should be the analysis of batch lots of chemicals in order to identify and quantify the percentages of impurities for the buyer of the chemicals. The required purity and analysis depends on

4284-683: The two large, strap-on solid-fueled Solid Rocket Motor Upgrade (SRMU) booster rockets for the otherwise liquid-fueled Titan IVB rockets. These strap-on rockets replaced the UA120 series of boosters used on the Titan IVB's predecessors, the Titan IIIC, Titan IIIE and Titan IVA. After the end of production and firing of NASA's huge Saturn IB and Saturn V rockets, the Titan IV was the largest and heaviest unmanned rocket available anywhere in

4352-662: The world, and especially in the Titan IV – Centaur version. The Titan IV- Centaur was used for special launches of heavy space probes into the Solar System , such as the Cassini-Huygens mission to Saturn which was launched in 1997. The Titan IV is no longer manufactured, and the last one of these was fired during a launch in October 2005. In 1995 the aerospace division of Hercules, including its solid motor line,

4420-597: Was acquired by the American defense contractor ATK . In its later years, Hercules, Inc., manufactured and marketed worldwide specialist chemicals that were used in a wide variety of industrial, home, and office markets, and it and had over 4,500 employees. Hercules was composed of two major divisions: the Paper Technologies and Ventures (PTV) division and the Aqualon division. In 2005, the former accounted for 49% of its sales and 35% of its operating profits, with

4488-461: Was formed in 1882 by DuPont and Laflin & Rand Powder Company . This company was dissolved on June 30, 1904. Hercules was one of the major producers of smokeless powder for warfare in the United States during the 20th century. At the time of its spin-off, the DuPont Corp. retained the processes and patents for the production of "single-base" nitrocellulose gunpowders, whereas Hercules

4556-533: Was given the patents and processes for the production of "double-base" gunpowders that combined nitrocellulose and nitroglycerine . A special formulation of dynamite was patented in 1874 by J.W. Willard, superintendent of the California Powder Works in Santa Cruz, California . He called his invention " Hercules powder ", a competitive jab at rival Giant Powder Company which had acquired

4624-538: Was sold off to the Ashland Corporation in 2008, and dissolved. In 2009, rapper George Watsky released a song about the history of the company called "Hercules". Some of the more recent gunpowders marketed to reloaders include the brand names "Bullseye", "2400", "Reloder", "Unique", and "Red Dot". These gunpowders are still being manufactured by Alliant Techsystems Inc. in Radford, Virginia . In

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