Organophosphines

Cytec is the global leader for the manufacture of organophosphine derivatives based on both PCl₃ and PH₃ platforms. Cytec's pioneering research in phosphine chemistry in the 1955 - 1965 era has been put into practice with over 35 years of industrial manufacturing of phosphine gas and derivatives thereof at Cytec's Niagara Falls, Ontario, Canada site. This chemistry is complemented by production of a variety of PCl₃ derived products at Cytec's Mount Pleasant, Tennessee site.

Standard PCl₃ derived products are the chlorophosphines such as benzene phosphorus dichloride (BPD) and diphenyl phosphinous chloride (DPC). A range of triarylphosphines and triarylphosphine oxides have been commercialized and are readily available. These products, as exemplified by tri-o-tolylphosphine (TOTP), are derived from Cytec's Grignard technology platform and have found widespread application as catalyst ligands and as reagents in the fine chemical and pharmaceutical markets. Additionally, a full complement of bidentate catalyst ligands derived from DPC such as 1,4-bis (diphenylphosphino)butane (DPPB) have been manufactured on a commercial scale. The chiral phosphine ligand DIOP is in development. Cytec, as the leading supplier of BPD and DPC, and in combination with its strength in Grignard chemistry, is uniquely positioned to provide a full range of "mixed" aryl and alkyl/aryl phosphine ligands for potential application as catalyst ligands in the fine chemical and pharmaceutical area.

Alkylphosphines are marketed under the CYTOP^® trademark and include such products as CYTOP 340 tri n-butylphosphine, CYTOP 380 tri-n-octylphosphine, CYTOP 331 tris-(2-cyanoethyl)phosphine and CYTOP 266 dicyclohexylphosphine. In addition to the manufacture of multi-ton quantities of "off the shelf" products, Cytec has also earned the reputation of a reliable single source of custom molecules. With its integrated R&D and manufacturing groups, Cytec is committed to the growth and development of phosphorus chemistry.