Parchem – fine & specialty chemicals is a leading supplier of terephthalic acid. Terephthalic acid is used as a precursor chemical to polyester used for making clothing and plastic bottles. Terephthalic acid can be also referred as purified terephthalic acid, benzene-1,4-dicarboxylic acid, para-Phthalic acid, TPA, and PTA. Its CAS Number is 100-21-0.
Terephthalic acid is produced by an oxidation reaction of para-xylene and airborne oxygen. An intermediate of this reaction is p-toluic acid, a functional carboxylic acid containing compound that has strong electron-withdrawing properties towards the carboxylic acid functional group. This electron-withdrawing mechanism makes the remaining methyl group extremely unreactive, and as such the addition of second oxygen to form terephthalic acid is extremely difficult. Commercial processes for producing terephthalic acid tend to utilize acetic acid as a solvent and a catalyst comprising cobalt and magnesium to help drive the reaction to completion.
Nearly all of the terephthalic acid production in the world today is directed towards processing polyethylene terephthalate (PET), a polymer used in the production of various consumer plastic products and textiles. Terephthalic acid has been used mainly as a raw material for the manufacture of polyester fiber, but lately it has been broken down for various uses such as non-fiber field, PET-bottle, PET-film and engineering plastics. Phthalic acid derivatives like phthalic anhydride are also widely used to make dyes, medicine, and synthetic perfumes, pesticides, and other chemical compounds.
For over 20 years, Parchem – fine & specialty chemicals has been a leading supplier of high quality raw materials and chemical intermediates for the plastics and textile industries. Parchem is now a leading global supplier of terephthalic acid; contact Parchem – fine & specialty chemicals today or click here for a quick quote on terephthalic acid!
