Furfural may also be produced from such things as corncobs, sunflower seeds and old leaves, but oat hulls are available in large quantities at convenient places and the furfural .
Because of a shortage of corncobs,which are needed to make furfural (a chemical compound) for defense products ranging from synthetic rubber to nylon, OPS junked cob controls last .
Object: to make one of nylon's basic ingredients (adipontrile) from a chemical (furfural) obtained from corncobs and oat hulls.