Solvay has inaugurated a 4-ethoxy-1,1,1-trifluoro-3-butene-2-one (ETFBO) manufacturing plant in Bad Wimpfen, Germany.

Built with an investment of €5m, the facility will produce 1,000t of the ETFBO compound each year, and will expand Solvay’s portfolio of fluorinated organic intermediates.

Solvay global business unit special chemicals strategic marketing head Horst Kröger said: “Solvay in Bad Wimpfen is our most important site for the production of these fluorinated speciality 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.”

Work on the plant started in May and the company commenced production of preliminary samples in October.

The ETFBO is said to improve the efficiency of molecules in an active ingredient and make them bio-degradable, as well as offer fluorine and a complex molecular structure to the active ingredient molecule.

CF3 chemistry, a raw material for ETFBO, has been the key compound used at the Bad Wimpfen plant.

Solvay said: “Fluorinated active ingredient molecules permeate more readily into the cell, which makes it possible to administer smaller doses.

“Moreover, ETFBO creates a predetermined breaking point in the molecule, where for example micro-organisms in the ground can attack.”

In Bad Wimpfen, Solvay produces a wide range of special fluorine chemicals, including the aluminium soldering flux NOCOLOK, and synthetic components for the production of agrochemicals and pharmaceutical products.

Solvay has more than 300 employees.

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