Real results from real processes

A pharmaceuticals manufacturer developed a route with a palladium-catalysed cross-coupling reaction. The final product was isolated with suitably low palladium levels, but the mother liquors contained 500 ppm palladium. Screening of the PhosphonicS scavenger library identified Phos-04 as the optimal scavenger. Lab-scale trials achieved 98% recovery of the palladium from the mother liquors with 6% palladium loading on the scavenger. Recovery of 40kg of palladium required 700kg of Phos-04.

A pharmaceutical client produced an intermediate using palladium catalysis, resulting in 1500ppm Pd in the isolated product. Treatment with SEM26 removed the palladium to below 20ppm using more than 100% scavenger loading in a batch slurry treatment. A PhASE programme identified SPM32 and SEM26 as the optimal scavengers, and increasing the treatment temperature from 40 to 60°C reduced treatment time by 60% with no compromise in product quality. A column trial with a 1.5 hour residence time reduced palladium to less than 1ppm in solution.

A precious metals refiner was losing valuable palladium and platinum to a nitric acid stream associated with silver electroplating. The stream contained approximately 38,000 ppm Ag and 36,000 ppm Cu, alongside 84 ppm Pt and 118 ppm Pd, with a daily flow rate of 4,000 litres.

Using a fixed-bed PhosphonicS scavenger system operating at 40°C, the process achieved more than 99.5% palladium recovery and 92 to 94% platinum recovery while maintaining excellent selectivity. The scavenger loaded 48 g/kg Pd and 35 g/kg Pt, with less than 1 g/kg of all other metals captured. The system recovered approximately $60,000 of palladium and platinum per day, transforming a metal loss into a significant revenue stream.

A manufacturer of electronic components generated approximately 200 tonnes per year of an acidic aqueous waste stream containing around 10 ppm palladium. Despite the low metal concentration, the volume of material made palladium losses economically significant.

Using a fixed-bed PhosphonicS scavenger system, more than 99% of the palladium was recovered from the process stream, with the scavenger achieving a palladium loading of 3.5 wt%. The process transformed a dilute waste stream into a valuable source of recovered palladium while helping to minimise metal losses.