Synetix opens research laboratory in Cambridge
Catalysis specialist Synetix, an ICI Group company, has opened an additional state-of-the-art research facility in Cambridge dedicated to its Chiral Technologies business.
The £2m (Euro 3.1m) laboratory will support the company's manufacturing and development work in chiral technologies, which will continue at Synetix's headquarters on Teeside, North East England.
The new facility will have a workforce of 12 chemists - nine from Teesside and a further three new specialists. The team, which will be expanded to 20 within the next year, will work on developing specialist catalysts, advanced solutions and new technologies for its customers in the pharmaceutical and fine chemical industry.
The main research laboratory features 10 fume cupboards and a 144-reactor Chemspeed unit for high throughput experimentation. Incorporating a modular design for process scale-up, the Chemspeed unit is capable of a wide range of reactions, including pressure hydrogenation. An 8-reactor Argonaut unit will be used for parallel asymmetric hydrogenation, while an innovative two-person glove box, which features a -40°C freezer and oxygen monitor, will be utilised to handle air sensitive material. A separate analytical laboratory houses preparative HPLC, GC, analytical HPLC and a CV-Vis Spectrophotometer. A walk-in fume cupboard will be utilised for kilo scale synthesis, while a 400 MHz nmr unit is situated between the two laboratories.
'This new facility will mean we will have a local base, nearer to more of our specialist customers and to the academic excellence the city is renowned for,' said Bob Coxon, chief executive of Synetix.
Synetix has also signed a technology transfer agreement with Hong Kong Polytechnic University, covering three ligand families for asymmetric hydrogenation: P-Phos, BINAM and SpiroP. P-Phos will have very similar properties to the BINAP ligand developed by Nobel prize winner, Prof Noyori. Synetix intends developing this technology to commercial scale for all standard Rhodium and Ruthenium BINAP applications. The P-Phos technology will now be made available to pharmaceutical and fine chemical companies on a global basis.
BINAM and SpiroP are aminophosphines and phosphonites, ligands featuring differing degrees of backbone rigidity, which will allow Synetix to incorporate both electronic and stereo variation in its catalytic process development. Denis Geffroy, commercial manager for Synetix commented: 'This agreement consolidates our position as the market leader in the application of asymmetric hydrogenation technology.'