Precious metals have been extracted, used and recycled for decades.  But the process is not loss free: estimates by Johnson Matthey put industrial losses at over £2bn / year.  In the refining process traditional extraction methods become uneconomical below 100 parts per million (ppm).  This results in low concentration, high volume waste streams.  Often these streams contain base metals as well as precious metals.  We can selectively extract the precious metals from this waste stream resulting in precious metals immobilised at over 2 wt% on silica - an easily transported and refined product.  Many applications we can reduce effluent concentrations below 1 ppm resulting in kgs of recovered metal.  

Precious metals are used as catalysts in the manufacture of acetic acid, silanes and alcohols.  We can also extract these metals at scale leaving the product behind.  

Many pharmaceuticals are being developed using homogeneous catalysts.  Once the reaction is complete getting rid of the metal can be a challenge, especially to the very low levels required by the FDA.  Typical methods like crystallisation, cysteine extractions and chelation cause product loses and can be scale-dependent.  Further, sometimes they do not work.

PhosphonicS has had great success both on the lab scale and industrial settings completing these purifications.  An example of this work has recently been highlighted in this article in Organic Process Research and Development (OPRD).  Products sold into the pharmaceutical, flavour and fragrance industries are manufactured to cGMP standards and come with the required CoA and regulatory paperwork.

In contrast to PhosphonicS metal removal solutions, our immobilised catalysts allow reactions traditionally accomplished with homogeneous catalysts to be performed without any metal contamination of the product stream.  We have developed a range of palladium cross-coupling catalysts including products useful for Suzuki and Heck reactions, as well as a range of catalysts for oxidation reactions.

Additionally, PhosphonicS has a portfolio of immobilised acid catalysts which can replace homogeneous catalysts such as sulfuric acid and pTSA, and are well suited to large scale fixed bed applications.

We believe there are two primary benefits to immobilised catalysts.  Firstly, product purification is greatly simplified.  Filtration of the catalyst completely removes the metal or acid from the reaction without any product loss.  Secondly, the
                                                                                       catalyst is recyclable.