Performance Solvents for the pharmaceutical industry

The pharmaceutical industry is one of the most important sectors of the economy with a high social standing. With the production of a wide range of pharmaceutical products in the field of human and veterinary medicine, it makes a major contribution to society, like

increased life expectancies,
lower occurences of illness and
sick leave.

The products are drugs whose active ingredient(s) serve to improve, maintain or restore health, such as ready-to-use drugs, vaccines or even biotechnologically produced gene therapeutics. In the manufacture of these indispensable products, the pharmaceutical industry invests considerable resources each year specifically in research and development. Especially in this area, the chemical industry is an important supplier of a wide variety of raw materials.

Our many years of expertise and our high-purity solvents are particularly appealing, which is why our customers include leading multinational manufacturers of pharmaceuticals and active pharmaceutical ingredients (API) as well as manufacturers of generic products.

Our high-performance products have a purity of up to 99.75% and therefore meet the highest requirements of the industry. The high purity of our solvents allows an efficient and specific control of subsequent synthesis steps. This is of fundamental importance in the pharmaceutical industry.

Our high-purity paraffins are used in the production of active pharmaceutical substances - also known as active ingredients (API). Both long-chain n-paraffins and branched isoparaffins are used.

A good example is n-heptane. This paraffin is not used directly as a solvent in the reaction, but in processing, crystallization, washing of purified substances and extraction. It is also a popular solvent for HPLC (High Performance Liquid Chromatography) applications. Instead of n-heptane, n-octane or the isoparaffin iso-octane can often be used.

Besides n-heptane and the octanes, n-pentane and n-hexane are also used.

Which solvent is chosen depends mainly on the different physical properties of the molecules.

The physical properties of solvents in the pharmaceutical industry

In the pharmaceutical industry 99% pure products are the standard. The remaining molecules boil in a similar range. As they are saturated molecules, our performance solvents do not interfere with any reaction or application. For an even higher performance we also offer our products with a purity of >99%.

Our range of 95% and 99% hydrocarbons offers a comprehensive selection of products that meet the highest purity and quality requirements.

The physical properties of these products are fine-tuned. The product line includes

aliphatic,
cyclic and
aromatic hydrocarbons with chain lengths ranging from C5 to C16.

C5 to C8 are of great importance for the pharmaceutical industry, especially n-heptane.

Hydrocarbons 95%

Hydrocarbons 95%	CAS-No.	Colour	Density	Destillation Rate	Evaporation Rate	Refractive Index	Aniline Point	Aromatic content	Non-Volatile Matter	Flash Point	Vapor Pressure	Kinetic Viscosity
Typical Properties		ISO 6271	@ 15°C kg/m³ ISO 12185	°C @ 101.3 kPa ASTM D 1078	(Ether = 1) DIN 53170	ⁿD²⁰ DIN 51423-2	°C ISO 2977	% m/m GC/UV-Spectroscopy	mg/100ml DIN 53172/ASTM D 1353	°C ISO 2719/ISO 13736	kPa @ 20°C (1 kPa = 10mbar)	mm²/s (cSt) @ 20°C ISO 3104
n-Heptane	142-82-5	< 5	688	97-100	3.1	1.388	70	< 0.02	< 2	< -4	3.9	0.58
iso-Octane (2,2,4-Trimethylpentane)	540-84-1	< 5	696	98-101	2.9	1.392	79	< 0.01	< 2	-10	3.7	0.68
n-Octane	111-65-9	< 5	708	124-127	8.0	1.398	73	< 0.01	< 5	+12	1.3	0.74
iso-Pentane	78-78-4	< 5	624	27-29	< 1.0	1.354	-	< 0.001	< 2	< -20	56.9	0.35
n-Pentane	109-66-0	< 5	631	36-38	1.0	1.358	69	< 0.01	< 2	< -20	40.9	0.39
n-Hexane	110-54-3	< 5	665	68-70	1.5	1.375	68	< 0.01	< 2	< -20	12.5	0.47
n-Octane	111-65-9	< 5	708	124-127	8.0	1.398	73	< 0.01	< 5	+12	1.3	0.74
n-Nonane	111-84-2	< 5	723	150-154	24.0	1.405	74	< 0.03	< 5	-30	0.38	0.96
n-Decane	124-18-5	< 10	733	172-177	67.0	1.412	77	< 0.01	< 5	+45	0.16	1.12
Methylcyclopentane	96-37-7	< 5	752	70-73	1.7	1.409	35	< 0.01	< 2	< -10	14.7	0.68

Hydrocarbons 99%

Hydrocarbons 95%	CAS-No.	Molecular weight	Density	Boiling Point	Solidification Point	Refractive index	Flash Point	Specific Heat	Heat of vaporization	Vapour pressure 25°C	Surface tension	Kinematic viscosity
Typical Properties			at 20°C kg/m³ ISO 12185	at 101.3 kPa (1013 mbar) °C	°C	ⁿD²⁰ DIN 51423-2	°C ISO 2719/ISO 13736	cp kJ/kg.K at 20°C (1kj = 0.239 kcal)	ΔH kJ/kg (1 kJ = 0.239 kcal)	in kPa (1kPa = 10mbar)	at 20°C mN/m (dyn/cm)	mm²/s (cSt) at 20°C ISO 3104
n-Heptane	142-82-5	100.2	684	98.4	-90.6	1.3875	-1	2.208	316.5	6.26	19.3	0.61
iso-Octane (2,2,4-Trimethylpentane)	540-84-1	114.2	692	99.3	-71.8	1.3915	-12	2.074	271.6	6.04	18.8	0.70
n-Octane	111-65-9	114.2	705	125.7	-56.8	1.3975	+12	2.196	301.1	2.00	21.8	0.78
iso-Pentane	78-78-4	72.1	620	27.8	-160.0	1.3540	< -35	2.258	339.0	91.74	15.0	0.36
n-Pentane	109-66-0	72.1	626	36.0	-131.0	1.3575	< -35	2.372	357.5	68.39	16.0	0.38
n-Hexane	110-54-3	86.2	660	68.7	-95.3	1.3750	-23	2.263	335.1	20.24	18.4	0.47
n-Nonane	111-84-2	128.3	718	150.8	-53.5	1.4054	+31	2.108	286.5	0.66	22.9	1.00
n-Decane	124-18-5	142.3	730	174.1	-29.7	1.4120	49	2.103	276.3	0.23	23.9	1.27
Methylcyclopentane	96-37-7	84.2	749	71.2	-142.5	1.4097	< -10	1.880	344.1	18.33	21.6	0.68

This is reflected in the additional accreditation of our Hamburg laboratory according to ISO/IEC 17025. This is particularly important for our customers in the pharmaceutical chemistry sector, where the highest standards of quality and purity must be maintained. This includes individually tailored specifications and mixtures in which, certain trace molecules are detected. We can also perform tests for oxygen-containing molecules such as ketones. We are aware of the special requirements and always strive to meet them, for example through regular internal and customer audits of globally leading companies and specialist manufacturers. We at Haltermann Carless see audits as opportunities to review and improve our quality processes. The positive results speak for themselves and ensure that we have been a reliable supplier and strong partner of many of our customers for decades.

Excursus: The production of LCD screens

The production of LCD screens places similarly high demands on the chemicals and solvents used as the pharmaceutical industry. In fact, such complicated electronic components are manufactured in clean rooms under almost clinical conditions. Dust, pollen or other contaminations would cause dark spots on the screen of a smartphone for example.

Other components such as printed circuit boards are also produced under particularly clean conditions. They must be cleaned again and again from flux, fingerprints and dust.

Our performance solvents with their extremely low evaporation residue offer an excellent alternative to fluorinated, chlorinated and aromatic solvents.

Delivery capability and flexibility in the field of transport and logistics have distinguished us for decades. Our worldwide distribution enables us to deliver our products in a wide variety of packaging types and according to individually tailored logistics requirements. We are able to do this thanks to our own loading stations, such as at our Speyer site, which

has its own jetty on the factory premises,
its own loading and unloading station for rail tank cars, and
a loading station for tank trucks and insulated containers.

Our Hamburg site also has an efficient drumming plant which can process 200-litre containers as well as smaller containers.

Production site Speyer

We do this, for example, at the production site of Haltermann Carless in Speyer. Here our modern and flexible hydrogenation plant offers many opportunities to grow further in the future and to meet the increasing demands of the pharmaceutical industry, for example.

In the hydrogenation plant, the unsaturated carbon bonds contained in the raw material are converted into saturated ones by reaction with hydrogen. This allows new product types and products to be produced with a high degree of purity. The hydrogenation plant offers a further advantage in its high production flexibility, as it opens up new possibilities in the supply of raw materials. This contributes to the strategic stability of the business and to maintaining competitiveness on the international market.

Performance Solvents for the Pharmaceutical Industry

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Our many years of expertise and our high-purity solvents are particularly appealing, which is why our customers include leading multinational manufacturers of pharmaceuticals and active pharmaceutical ingredients (API) as well as manufacturers of generic products.

The advantages of our solvents for the pharmaceutical industry at a glance:

Our products for pharmaceutical industry

For our customers in the pharmaceutical industry we offer the following products:

Which solvent is chosen depends mainly on the different physical properties of the molecules.

The physical properties of solvents in the pharmaceutical industry

Hydrocarbons 95%

Hydrocarbons 99%

Laboratories: Highest standards in quality & purity

Excursus: The production of LCD screens

Delivery capability and flexibility in the supply chain

More about the services of Haltermann Carless

The production of high-purity hydrocarbons

Production site Speyer