- The new L-Menthol facility will open in summer 2012.
- Global demand for menthol is 25,000 to 30,000 metric tonnes per year.
- The new process uses citral and asymmetric hydrogenation.
- The process achieves 99.7% purity for L-Menthol.
New L-Menthol Facility
BASF will open a new L-Menthol production facility at its Ludwigshafen site in summer 2012. This facility aims to produce synthetic L-Menthol with improved purity and increased volumes to meet the growing demand in various industries.
Meeting Global Demand
The global demand for menthol, ranging from 25,000 to 30,000 metric tonnes per year, already exceeds the available supply. The new facility will help address this gap, particularly benefiting the oral care, skin care, and food industries.
Innovative Production Process
BASF has developed a new process for manufacturing synthetic menthol based on citral, an aroma chemical already produced in the firm's Verbund system. A key step in this process is asymmetric hydrogenation, which uses a highly efficient catalyst system to ensure the synthesis of a specific enantiomer from citral.
Efficiency and Purity
The new production process is continuous, with substances constantly added and removed to avoid downtimes. This method not only saves time but also increases efficiency, achieving nearly 99.7% purity for L-Menthol even with the same amount of starting materials. Additionally, it eliminates the need for complex multi-step procedures to obtain the desired flavors and properties.
