Penn Specialty Chemicals, Inc. and Chemetall GmbH Join Forces in Marketing MeTHF Based Organometallic Reagents
PHILADELPHIA , USA— February 13, 2007 — Penn Specialty Chemicals, Inc. ( Philadelphia, USA) and Chemetall GmbH ( Frankfurt, Germany) have joined forces with a strategic marketing agreement for global market development of the solvent MeTHF (2-methyltetrahydrofuran) and MeTHF soluble organometallic reagents, organic and inorganic salts, hydrides and alcoxides.
Each company is a leading player in its own specialized business. Penn commercially manufactures MeTHF and specializes in the production of furfural and furan based solvents and derivatives. Chemetall is a leading supplier of metal based chemical applications and produces a variety of lithium based products.
The main purpose of the present agreement is to increase the awareness and acceptance of MeTHF and MeTHF based reagents in industrial R&D and academia with a focus on the fine chemical market.
Penn has developed MeTHF as a green and more effective solvent alternative to tetrahydrofuran. Unlike THF, MeTHF is obtained from renewable resources and is not soluble in effluent waters. MeTHF is comparable or better than THF in terms of its chemical properties but resembles toluene in terms of its physical properties. This has important in-process advantages such as easier recycling, improved extractive and crystallization properties, and shorter cycle times.
Chemetall has developed and commercialized numerous MeTHF based reagents with several distinct advantages over THF based reagents. Chemetall has shown that various organogrignard reagents are much more soluble in MeTHF than THF and some reactions display dramatically improved yields.
Since the advantages of MeTHF and MeTHF based reagents are not widely known in the marketplace, both companies recognize the need to allocate resources to the development of open knowledge in terms of existing and new applications.
Penn and Chemetall will jointly sponsor scientific events catered around green chemistry and organometallic applications. In addition both will provide free samples and finance fundamental research for a select group of Universities and research centres around the world. This will increase the foundation needed to grow the market and lower barriers to entry for MeTHF and MeTHF based reagents.
For more information please contact Dr. Bogdan Comanita, Director of Sales, Penn Specialty Chemicals at 1-519-850-3232 or Thomas Krause, Manager Marketing- and Product Communication, Chemetall GmbH at +49-69-7165-2232
Details about the companies can be found on their websites:
