🏭 Vanilla without the bean

Good morning. This newsletter doesn't typically cover flavors and fragrances, but the petrochemical-based vanillin manufacturing process was too hard to resist.

From the condenser:

· Solvay's fermentation-based vanillin

· Total's drone project

· MOTD: acetone

Solvay to make more vanilla without vanilla

Belgian chemical company, Solvay, has announced an investment in in Suanfarma’s manufacturing site in Lisbon, Portugal for the production of fermentation-based vanillin.

What are they making?

Vanillin is exactly what it sounds like—this is the molecule that we owe to the taste and fragrance of vanilla. The majority of that vanillin you'll find on the market (about 90%) is actually a derivative of benzene (which is a refinery product). First you produce phenol from benzene, then convert phenol to catechol with some hydrogen peroxide, then convert catechol to guaiacol by methylation, and then use this two-step process to convert guaiacol into vanillin.

Solvay's route to vanillin:

Solvay has a process to make vanilla-bean-free vanillin by fermentation instead of chemical synthesis. The fermentation process uses a unique microbe to convert ferulic acid into vanillin. They get that ferulic acid by extracting oil out of the hard outer brown layer of rice.

So, what's going on here?

Solvay's route is special because they can legally market that vanillin as "natural flavoring" without having been made from vanilla beans. Today's agreement is saying that Solvay will use Suanfarma as a contract manufacturer (CM) to toll the production of this fermentation-based vanillin. Using a CM is a great way to put out some feelers.

Total is using drones to plug emissions

French oil major, TotalEnergies, has announced that it will be launching a drone-based emissions detection and quantification campaign for all of its oil and gas production sites.

Some context:

The extraction, processing, and storage of those petroleum-based resources go hand in hand with (unintentional) methane leaks. But methane isn't visible to the naked eye, so plugging leaks is never super easy. TotalEnergies wants to stop those leaks because it's good for the environment—and good for business (would you want your product exiting to the atmosphere?).

So, what are they doing?

TotalEnergies and a couple of French research partners are basically mounting sensors on drones and planning to fly them around all of their sites. They are saying that the data acquired by those drones will supplement the data they already have from "infrared cameras, ground sensors, and satellite". Satellite imagery should sound familiar because we've talked about TotalEnergies, BP, and ExxonMobil working on it in the past.

Zooming out:

Most of these oil and gas companies are integrated downstream. Reducing the emissions associated with the production of oil and gas is effectively reduces the emissions associated with anything you make from it. Since we use petrochemicals to make pretty much all of our materials (mostly by the polymerization of olefins) these emission reductions have a large impact. TotalEnergies is planning to have its methane emissions reduced to 10% of what they were in 2010 by 2030 (they are currently halfway there).

Some more headlines:

• BP and Linde are planning a large CO2-capture project on Texas Gulf Coast

• Neste just introduced a partially renewable marine fuel

• BASF is doubling its production of its Irganox antioxidant in Singapore

• Shell is working with Amazon Web Services on a cloud platform

• Missouri legislators are expected to sign a new molecular recycling bill

Molecule of The Day:

Today's MOTD is a dear friend, acetone.

First produced by Andreas Libavius in 1606 as he casually distilled lead acetate, this molecule is best known as the main ingredient in nail polish remover and paint thinner.

While acetone may have got its frame from those uses, only about a third of the world's acetone is used as a solvent. A quarter of it used to make BPA, another quarter is used to make the precursor to methyl methacrylate, and about 10% is used to make MIBK.

Virtually all acetone (roughly 7 million tons per year globally) is produced from propylene in some form or fashion. That's either by the cumene process (83%), the Wacker process, or through isopropyl alcohol as an intermediate. Some of the largest producers of the molecule include Ineos, Shell, and Borealis.

In case you're interested:

• Guide: Take a look at this summary about the chemistry of bourbon.

• Book: Admittedly, Perry's Handbook isn't cheap… but nobody has ever regretted buying this thing.*

• Safety Moment: With winter coming, freezes at chemical plants are inevitable. Learn about how improper winterization can lead to process safety events.

• Tip: Whether you're in school or not, ramen is always good in a pinch—Immi is putting classic dorm-room-ramen to shame.*

The bottoms: