Green Synthetic Pathways Award

In 1992 BHC (Boots Hoechst-Celanese) Company commercialized a new synthetic process to manufacture ibuprofen in BHC s 3500 metric-ton-per-year facility in Bishop/TX, USA, which was cited as an industry model of environmental excellence in chemical processing technology. For its innovation, BHC was the recipient of the 1997 Alternative Synthetic Pathways Award of the Presidential Green Chemistry Challenge. 

Environmental Protection Agency. Green Chemistry. 2008 Greener Synthetic Pathways Award available at http /Avww.epa.gov/ greenchemistry/pubs/pgcc/winners/gspa08.html (accessed September 17, 2009). 

Greener Synthetic Pathways Award http //www2.epa.gov/green-chemistry/presidential-green-chemistry-challenge-winners, (accessed Dec 2014). 

The newer Flexsys patented process shown in Figure 11.21 is much more efficient than the older synthesis routes, with a 95% reduction in waste. There is no production of hydrochloric acid byproduct, and there is no need for the use of chiorinated benzene feedstocks. This process received the Environmental Protection Agency s Presidential Green Chemistry Challenge Alternative Synthetic Pathways Award, and Flexsys spent about 70 million on the construction of a new piant for this PPD2 process in Antwerp, Belgium. 

This manufacturing process received the Presidential Green Chemistry Challenge Award (2006) for alternative synthetic pathways, the IChemE AstraZeneca Award for excellence in green chemistry and chemical engineering (2005), and the Thomas Alva Edison Patent Award (2009) for Merck s U.S. Pat. 7,468,459. 

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