WeylChem starts reagents production at US plant

29 July 2008 19:08  [Source: ICIS news]

NEW YORK (ICIS news)--Germany-based WeylChem is starting up commercial-scale production of Grignard reagents at its South Carolina plant in Elgin to meet growing demand from makers of pharmaceuticals, agrochemicals and functionalised polymers, a company official said on Tuesday.

“A number of our customers have asked us if we can supply them with Grignard reagents on a commercial scale as they reconfigure plants for new projects, or as they adopt chemistries and processes that make it uneconomical to produce the reagents in-house,” said Alain Angelac, sales and marketing project manager at WeylChem.

Grignard reagents are aryl- or alkylmagnesium halides used mainly to form carbon-carbon bonds. They are also used to form carbon-phosphorus, carbon-tin, carbon-silicon, carbon-boron and other carbon-heteroatom bonds.

WeylChem intends to produce Grignard reagents “in response to an industry need for suppliers with the capability to deliver higher volumes than is currently available in the United States,” WeylChem stated.

The company’s Elgin facility has 80 reactors with total reactor volume of 250,000 gal. There are two dedicated Grignard production lines comprising one 4,000 gal line and another 2,800 gal line.

The move also represents a diversification of WeylChem’s activities beyond exclusive (or custom) synthesis, said John Wetzel, director sales and marketing, North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) region.

“Adding a mix of custom and commercial manufacturing capabilities will help us to be a better partner for the companies commercializing new products as well as those that need standard functional products,” said Wetzel.

Owned by private investment group International Chemical Investors, WeylChem employs 700 people at five facilities in Europe and North America.

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By: Clay Boswell
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