Science and industry in dialogue: The future of boron chemistry

* 6th Boron Conference held in Ludwigshafen, Germany
* Focus on the latest developments in use of Boron Reagents and Organometallic Compounds in Organic Synthesis

Ludwigshafen - From June 15 – 16, the 6th international BASF Boron Conference took place in Ludwigshafen. As in the years before, more than 100 participants from industry and academia attended the meeting to discuss current trends and new applications of boron compounds in fine chemistry. The increasing importance of the topic itself is mirrored in the growing popularity of the conference among the experts.



“We succeeded in gaining participation from internationally leading scientists from academia as well as from industry at our Boron Conference.” emphasized Dr. Michael Pcolinski, Vice President, Inorganic Chemicals North America & Global Business Management Life Science Chemicals in Evans City, Pennsylvania, USA.



Prof. Victor Snieckus from the Queens University in Ontario, Canada and Prof. Dr. Paul Knochel from the Ludwig-Maximilians-University in Munich, Germany gave well received plenary lectures entitled respectively “Aromatic Metalation Synthetic Strategies. The Boron Connection” and “Preparation of polyfunctional heterocyclic organometallic building blocks for organic syntheses”.

In addition, several representatives from the industry, like Martin Woods from GlaxoSmithKline, presented their recent work in the field of applied boron chemistry.



As during previous conferences, the participants took advantage of the opportunity offered for open dialog: “For us as academic scientists, the ongoing exchange with industry representatives is of utmost importance as it is the only way to assure the development of truly useful and innovative new chemistry”, highlighted Prof. Dr. Knochel.



Boron based reagents as well as organozinc halides are getting more and more important in the fine chemicals industry. Commercially available boron compounds are used in the synthesis of life saving medications as well as in industrial applications. BASF has over 50 years of experience in handling both air- and water-sensitive borane reagents at its plants in Evans City, USA as well as in Ludwigshafen, Germany.



"From Lab to Launch – Discover New Horizons" – true to the spirit of the slogan, BASF’s international Boron Conference aims to strengthen the dialogue between science and industry to identify and develop new solutions - particularly in the synthesis of new active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs).



About the Inorganics Division

The Inorganics Division develops and produces one of the most extensive ranges of inorganic chemicals, natural gas-based products and metalliferous connections in the world and therefore caters for customers from the construction, pharmaceutical, foodstuffs and timber-derived products industries. Products include inorganic basic chemicals such as sulfuric or nitric acids, inorganic salts such as ammonium bicarbonate and specialties such as boranes, carbonyl iron powder, glues, impregnating resins, electronic chemicals and fertilizer, to name but a few. More information about the Inorganics Division can be found at www.basf.com/inorganics.

About BASF

BASF is the world’s leading chemical company: The Chemical Company. Its portfolio ranges from chemicals, plastics and performance products to agricultural products, fine chemicals and oil and gas. As a reliable partner BASF creates chemistry to help its customers in virtually all industries to be more successful. With its high-value products and intelligent solutions, BASF plays an important role in finding answers to global challenges such as climate protection, energy efficiency, nutrition and mobility. BASF posted sales of more than €50 billion in 2009 and had approximately 105,000employees as of the end of the year. Further information on BASF is available on the Internet at www.basf.com.