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Solvay commissions ETFBO facility in Germany

ETFBO (4-ethoxy-1,1,1-trifluoro-3-butene-2-one) is used in agrochemicals production for increasing efficiency of active ingredient molecules and making them more easily biodegradable

ImageBS B2B Bureau B2B Connect | Brussels, Belgium
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Solvay has commissioned a new manufacturing facility for the synthetic building block ETFBO (4-ethoxy-1,1,1-trifluoro-3-butene-2-one) at Bad Wimpfen (Germany), expanding its range of fluorinated organic intermediates. The company has invested Euro 5 million in the new facility, which has a capacity of 1,000 tonnes per year. Construction of the facility, integrated into an existing building, began in May this year and preliminary sample amounts were produced in October.
 
“Solvay in Bad Wimpfen is our most important site for the production of these fluorinated specialty chemicals, and the only ETFBO supplier worldwide. Our local research know-how, qualified staff and many years of production experience are unique worldwide, giving us a competitive advantage. An additional benefit is that we are close to our key customers, manufacturers of agrochemicals,” said Horst Kroger, Head of Strategic Marketing of Solvay’s Global Business Unit Special Chemicals.
 
The so-called CF3 chemistry has been an important pillar for the site since the 1980s, when the production process for trifluoroacetyl chloride (TFAC) was developed. Today, it is a high revenue product, and a raw material for ETFBO, which is a building block that boosts the efficiency of active ingredient molecules and makes them more easily biodegradable.
 
Large active ingredient molecules for pharmaceutical products and agrochemicals are put together from smaller, so-called synthetic building blocks. ETFBO is such a synthetic building block, which contributes both fluorine and a complex molecular structure to the active ingredient molecule at the same time.
 
To begin with, only small amounts were synthesised for research purposes in Bad Wimpfen. These were then successfully tested in co-operation with selected customers. After that, ETFBO was produced at the industrial scale in a multi-purpose facility. The rapidly growing demand now makes a dedicated ETFBO facility viable.

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First Published: Nov 11 2014 | 3:12 PM IST

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