Hydrogenation

ISOCHEM is a master of hydrogenation, which literally means ‘to treat with hydrogen’. Hydrogenation describes a chemical reaction between molecular hydrogen (H2) and some other compound or element. This reaction usually requires a catalyst such as platinum or nickel.

Hydrogenation has been widely embraced by the chemical and pharmaceutical industries since the 1960s, since when an average of 400 publications per month have referred to hydrogenation in some form. Partly this is because it is an inherently attractivetechnology with hydrogen providing a medium that is both low cost and environmentally friendly.

Hydrogenation forms the basis for a wide range of processes supported by a wide range of efficient and selective catalytic systems, including recovery and recycling.

Hydrogenation is also versatile and has recently made an increasingly important contribution to chiral chemistry.

The hydrogenation process is particularly useful in the production of chiral using the homogenous asymmetric catalysis technology providing organic compounds such as the highly versatile R-3-Quinuclidinol (C7H13NO), which can be used as a chiral building block, intermediates of APIs, synthon in a wide variety of processes and reactions.

Hydrogenation processes

ISOCHEM provides a comprehensive hydrogenation service that ranges from development to industrial production, with a unique offer based on unrivalled expertise, know-how and sophisticatedtechnology platforms based on both heterogeneous and homogeneous catalysis. In combination, these enable customer control at all steps of the process.

Batch process

ISOCHEM has accumulated a wealth of experience in the development and scale-up of numerous hydrogenation processes, which it can offer in a wide capacity range from 1,000 to 8,000 liters for standard batch conventional hydrogenation.

High pressure hydrogenation

ISOCHEM can also provide 2.000 litre 40 bar hollow-shaft gas-liquid Biazzi reactors for more stringent high-pressure hydrogenations, such as producing R-3-quinuclidinol by hydrogenation at a pressure of 40 bar in homogeneous catalysis.

Customer specific hydrogenation processes

Basic capacity is coupled with flexible equipment and methodologies to meet specific needs such as producing clinical batches or APIs in commercial quantities, produced to GMP compliant standards.

Process development

Successful scale-up of a hydrogenation process requires mastery of three essential components:

1. Three step mass transport system to move gas into liquid, then liquid to solid and finally diffusion in catalyst pores
2. Hydrogen feed systems, including recycling of unreacted H2 where necessary
3. Exothermic flux removal by heat transfer

Much of the engineering and process work of ISOCHEM’s expert hydrogenation teams consists of applying these three key points to the specific compound and batch requirements.

Equipment and capacity

Versatile hydrogenation from lab or pilot plant to full-scale commercial production also requires state-of-the-art high performance tools. ISOCHEM can offer the following:
Industrial scale equipment:

• Simple batch multipurpose reactor technology (flexible and several scale set)
• Dedicated batch hollow-shaft gassing agitator technology

Process development:

• Laboratory reactor possessing homothetic similarity to large-scale tools
• Methodology for characterizing reaction and process
• Safety evaluation knowledge and tools such as Differential Scanning Calorimetry (DSC) and Reaction calorimeter RC1

Process engineering:

• Data on lab scale, pilot plant and industrial equipment operating ranges and efficiencies, including heat transfer, gas/liquid transfer, etc.
• Proven methodologies for scale-up

 

cGMP integrated industrial capacities:

ISOCHEM can offer total hydrogenation capacity of 23.000 liters to cGMP standards where required.

This is made up as follows:

Volume (L)	Technology	Material	Operating Pressure
1.000	Conventional agitator	Glass lined	3 bar
4.000	Conventional agitator	Glass lined	3 bar
4.000	Conventional agitator	Stainless steel	3 bar
4.000	Double level helical stirrer	Uranus	3 bar
8.000	Conventional agitator	Stainless steel	3 bar
2.000	Hollow-shaft gassing reactor (Biazzi)	Stainless steel	40 bar

Laboratory development tools:

Volume (mL)	Technology	Material	Operating Pressure
500	Conventional agitator	Stainless steel	3 bar
500 or 2.000	Hollow-shaft gassing reactor (Biazzi)	Hastelloy	40 bar

 

Resources

Click on ISOCHEM hydrogenation for other information.
Click on ISOCHEM to contact the company directly.

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Supplier Information
Supplier: ISOCHEM S.A.S
Address: 32 rue Lavoisier, 91710 Vert Le Petit, France
Tel: +33 (0)1 64 99 03 00
Fax: +33 (0)1 64 99 03 50
Website: www.isochem.eu

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