In 1919, Adkins began his thesis on the rates of oxidation by potassium permanganate of acetaldehyde, oxalic acid and the rates of reactions having to do with different additions of temperature and molarity. His overall interest was the nature of the intermediate of these reactions. Soon after, he wrote a second paper concerning reaction rates and a third involving the catalytic addition of oxides on esters. His whole research began to revolve around the nature of a product resulting from a reaction depending on the catalyst given. The study on catalysts led to his most important contribution, the hydrogenation of an ester to an alcohol with the use of a copper chromite catalyst. After the study on copper chromite, Adkins delved further and further into hydrogenation reactions and the use of catalysts. A new reaction came out of his research in which hydrogen is added to a double bond on a catalytic surface, the given molecule then splits off into two separate molecules.