Intermediate chemicals, specialty development

Available from Cerestar, EBS Vilvoorde R D Centre, Centre of Expertise Fermentation, Havenstraat 84, 1800 Vilvoorde, Belgium Mitsubishi Chemical Corporation, Specialty Chemicals Company, Intermediate Chemicals Department, 5-2 Marunouchi 2-chome, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo 100-0005, Japan or Nikken Chemicals Co., Ltd., Development Department, Sumitomo-Tsukiji Bldg., No. 4-14, Tsukiji 5-chome, Chuo-ku, Tokyo 104-0045, Japan. 

There are no universally accepted definitions of bulk, fine, and specialty chemicals, nor are these classifications based on any intrinsic properties. A substance that is currently viewed as a bulk chemical might well have been classified as a fine chemical at an earlier stage in its development. A useful working definition of a fine chemical is one with a price of more than 10 US dollars kg and a volume of less than 10000 tons per annum on a worldwide basis. We make no distinction between fine chemicals, that are often intermediates, and specialty chemicals such as pharmaceuticals, pesticides, and flavors and fragrances. The type of technology used to manufacture these products is dictated more by volume than by product application. 

Development, scale-up, and manufacturing of products from agricultural, pharmaceutical, and intermediates to specialty chemicals.)... 

Fine and specialty chemicals can be obtained from renewable resonrces via multi-step catalytic conversion from platform molecules obtained by fermentation. An alternative method decreasing the processing cost is to carry out one-pot catalytic conversion to final product without intermediate product recovery. This latter option is illustrated by an iimovative oxidation method developed in our laboratory to oxidize native polysaccharides to obtain valuable hydrophilic end-products useful for various technical applications. 

Economic and safety considerations encourage minimal stockpiling of chemicals and avoiding transportation of hazardous substances. These increasing demands offer many opportunities for microwave chemistry in the development of environmentally benign methods for the preparation of intermediates, specialty chemicals and pharmaceuticals [6[. It appears likely that within the next few years, individual chemical reactors will be required for diverse tasks and will need to be easily relocated... 

As stated earlier, Knowles and co-workers developed an efficient asymmetric catalyst based on the chiral bisphosphine, R,R-DIPAMP (2), that has chirality at the phosphorus atoms and can form a 5-membered chelate ring with rhodium. (Digital Specialty Chemical has optimized this process, and both antipodes of DIPAMP are available in kilogram quantities.) [Rh(COD)(R,R-DIPAMP)]+BF4 (13) has been used by Monsanto for the production of L-dopa (12), a drug used for the treatment of Parkinson s disease, by an asymmetric reduction of the Z-enamide, 14a, in 96% ee (Scheme 12.1). The pure isomer of the protected amino acid intermediate, 15a, can be obtained on crystallization from the reaction mixture because it is a conglomerate.17... 

TEA is used as an intermediate for surface-active agents used in textile specialties, waxes and polishes, herbicides, petroleum demulsifiers, toilet goods, cement additives, cutting oils, and photograph-film developers as corrosion inhibitors as a dispersant for dyes, casein, shellac, and rubber latex as sequestering agents and as a rubber chemicals intermediate123. 

Hoechst transformed its business from a hybrid chemical company into a pure Hfe science company by radically divesting over 80 percent of its portfolio, getting rid of businesses such as specialty chemicals (sold to Clariant) or chemical intermediates (spun off into Celanese). It completed the acquisition of Roussel-Uclaf and bought Marion MerreU Dow, and finally merged with the French life science company Rhone-Poulenc after the latter had also spun off aU its chemical business as Rhodia. By reinventing" itself under the brand name Aventis, it increased its Return on Sales (ROS) from 4.6 percent to 12.4 percent, a development that has recently been viewed very favorably by capital markets. 

In conclusion, research and industrial interest in the ammoxidation of methylpyridine and methylpyrazine is still active. This process could offer a greener alternative to current processes in the production of intermediates for a variety of specialty chemicals, especially in rapidly developing locations such as China where a growing interest in the reaction has been noted [115, 116]. 

After the war Hercules returned to the production of commercial explosives as well as military propellants and continued to build on its cellulose and naval stores capabilities. In 1958 its explosives department created a chemical propulsion division to develop propellants for missiles and space vehicles. In 1959 it received contracts from the U.S. Air Force to develop new solid-fuel rocket motors and subsequently produced the motor for the third stage of the nation s first solid-fuel intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM), the Minuteman. Hercules played an even larger role in the development of the Navy s submarine-launched Polaris ICBM. With cellulose came new specialties, including synthetic resins and paper chemicals, as well as carboxymethylcellulose (CMC), an intermediate used in the production of foods, pharmaceuticals, and cosmetics. From naval stores came other new specialty chemicals and an effective insecticide, toxaphene, and other agricultural chemicals.3... 

During the industry s restructuring in the early 1980s, Exxon Chemical sold off most of its specialty petrochemical units to Du Pont and other chemical companies, and concentrated its R D on intermediates and polymers. In the early 1990s product development was accomplished through joint ventures, such as one begun in 1990 with Monsanto to improve thermoplastic elastomers, another in 1992 with Mitsui Petrochemicals for the next generation of ethylene polymer resins, and a third in 1994 with Hoechst to refine... 

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