Goo BS  Baek JY  Park HI  Jung IC  Kim WS

Vol. 26,  No. 2, pp. 91-95, Jun.  2020
10.7464/ksct.2020.26.2.91

Non-catalyst N-Hydroxysuccinimide Isobutyl alcohol Hydroxylamine Succinic anhydride

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A new eco-friendly synthetic method for N-hydroxysuccinimide (NHS), widely used in the pharmaceutical and fine chemical industries, is developed. Conventional synthesis method yields NHS of about 70% after its reaction with NH2OH to succinic acid. In this method, NHS can be obtained using low-cost succinic acid, but a great deal of solvents are required as an extraction method to purify NHS, while the work-up process is complicated, resulting in low yield. In addition, there is a safety risk due to the high reaction temperature for commercial production, and it is not economical due to the high cost of production from the generation of much waste because of an acid catalyst and the use of various solvents. In order to make up for this shortcoming, this study used succinic anhydride as a raw material under low temperature reaction and developed a new eco-friendly industrial synthesis method using isobutyl alcohol for a single solvent and non-catalytic reaction. The economic evaluation confirms that there is a cost reduction effect of about 20%. In the future, based on this result, studies may establish a commercial production technology through scale-up research and proceed with foreign technology transfer.