Commodity chemicals, process efficiency

Contrary to the commodity chemical business, the key to win in the specialty products market does not lie in squeezing out profits by means of economies of scale or process optimization. Rather, it lies in the ability for fast new product launches in order to capture the largest market share as soon as possible. Since superior product quality and performance is what really differentiates one specialty product from another, the product properties need to be adjusted as required by business needs. For example, the ability to manipulate functional chemicals in detergent products such as enzymes and zeolites, as well as backbone chemicals like surfactants, is often the key to success for both the detergent manufacturers and chemical suppliers [3], This trend has created an urgent need for an efficient and effective product and process development for these products. 

As with another class of compounds, the scale of synthesis and time required at the research stage before product can be made influence which method is finally used. At small scale, a plethora of methods exist to prepare amino acids, in addition to isolation of the common ones from natural sources. The majority of these small-scale reactions rely on the use of a chiral auxiliary or template. At larger scale, asymmetric hydrogenation and biocatalytic processes come into their own. For the amino acids approaching commodity chemical scales, biological approaches, either as biocatalytic or total fermentation, provide the most cost-efficient processes. 

This route was efficient and robust, using only inexpensive commodity chemicals without hazardous reagents. By intercepting crystalline intermediates, high states of purity were achieved without chromatography. The complete seven-step synthetic sequence used for manufacturing varenicline involves only filtration processes to remove catalyst and isolate crystalline intermediates in an overall yield of > 50%.44a With an efficient route to 8 in hand, the research team made refinements to the synthesis of 1 (Scheme 12). They found it more effective to isolate 8 as the HC1 salt rather than as... 

In every industrial process, efficiency is the main goal. Particularly for the production of a commodity such as solar fuel, the productivity should be as high as possible. The definition of productivity rP in chemical processes is given by Equation (5) ... 

As with most commodity chemicals, the stoichiometric chemical costs remain the dominant component of overall process economics, but success in the marketplace depends critically upon the most efficient utilization of capital, energy, and raw material resources to gain and retain the economic upper hand. Programs like the one described in this paper are designed to do just that. 

Nonetheless, a (partial) switch to renewables is desirable for other reasons, such as biocompatibility, biodegradability and lower toxicity, i.e. renewable raw materials leave a smaller environmental footprint [3]. That the chemical industry has been slow to make the transition, in the three decades following the Report of the Club of Rome, is a consequence of the fact that oil and natural gas are excellent basic feedstocks and highly atom efficient, low waste, catalytic procedures are available for their conversion into commodity chemicals. The same cannot be said for the fine chemicals industry where processes are, generally speaking, much less efficient in many respects and there is considerable room for improvement. 

In another process related issue, the CO2 will be needed on a continuous basis for the production of chemicals. This is because most commodity scale chemicals are produced around the clock at the same level of productivity. Chemical plants run efficiently when running full out. This continual need for CO2 is not consistent with the major anticipated source of CO2 which is from power plants. Power plants do not run at a constant output power is produced during peak user periods and the plants reduce power production at night. This means that CO2 production is reduced at night. Thus one gets a non-uniform production of CO2 which is unacceptable for commodity chemicals production. 

Important commodity chemicals are currently being produced by microorganisms In a variety of fermentation and bloconverslon processes. The efficient production of these substances requires considerable enzyme levels catalyzing the biosynthesis of metabolites, as well as good catalytic activities and adequate operational stabilities. This Is certainly true of both primary and secondary metabolites. 

The purpose of this volume is to highlight several recent research efforts to discover and to develop selective, catalytic reactions and processes for the cmiver-sion of ligno-cellulosic and plant oil-derived feedstocks to value-added chemicals. The value of catalytic chemical processes lies in their reduced energy consumption and potentially increased efficiency and product selectivity, which minimize environmental and societal impacts. Selectivity is especially important for the preparation of commodity and specialty chemical and materials where single compounds are usually needed, unlike fuel production where mixtures of high energy compounds (e.g., gasoline and diesel) are useable. 

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