GreenCentre Canada (Kingston, Ont.; www.greencentrecanada.com) has entered into an exclusive global licensing agreement with Johnson Matthey Plc. (London, U.K.; www.jmfinechemicals.com), a leading multi-national producer of catalysts and specialty chemicals. Under the terms of the agreement, Johnson Matthey will promote, market, scale-up and manufacture a series of high-value catalysts that have been developed by GreenCentre Canada. As part of the license with Johnson Matthey Plc., the products will also be made available on research scale and distributed globally via Sigma-Aldrich.
Originally conceived and developed in the laboratories of professor Dmitri Goussev of Wilfrid Laurier University, these catalysts show exceptional activity for a specific chemical transformation known as ester hydrogenation. This reaction is used to manufacture a wide variety of commercial products including pharmaceuticals, detergents, cosmetics, flavors and fragrances.
Compared to existing technologies in the laboratory, the catalysts have demonstrated unprecedented yields and selectivity and have the potential to re-invent a number of industrial processes. In addition, the catalysts show great ability to convert bio-based feedstocks—such as seed/vegetable oils or animal fats—into high-value products, ultimately enhancing the sustainability of a number of consumer and fine chemical products.
“GreenCentre is very pleased to have licensed this element of its catalyst portfolio with a true global leader in the manufacture and sale of fine chemical catalysts,” says Pete Pigott, executive director of GreenCentre Canada.
“Johnson Matthey is delighted to enter into this agreement with GreenCentre Canada and to include this technology into its portfolio, further solidifying our position as a global leader in fine chemical catalysis. We believe that ester reduction, in addition to many other chemical reductions using catalysis, is truly at the forefront of this technical discipline enabling companies to deliver challenging chemistry in an elegant and sustainable way.” says Alan Dyke, New Business Development manager, Johnson Matthey Catalysis and Chiral Technologies.