Active ingredients (AI) are the components of pharmaceuticals and agrochemicals that express therapeutic, medicinal, or biochemical effects on living matter. Agrochemicals in particular encompass pesticides, herbicides and insecticides. They are formulated with inert or excipient chemicals, which either modulate an AI’s adverse effects or act as a delivery vehicle.
Understanding the biological activity of an active ingredient is integral to determining its viability and efficacy. The degree of an AI’s biological activity generally denotes a directly proportional relationship between dosage concentration and beneficial effects, with a common correlation between increased adverse effects and higher dosages.
How Are Active Ingredients Made?
Due to the exacting requirements and certifications required to produce and supply agrochemicals, every stage of the chemical formulation process must be tightly controlled. The active ingredients must be produced in multiple step, chemical batch processing facilities equipped to handle complex organic syntheses. There is no margin for error when it comes to fine chemical manufacturing for AIs, which is one of the reasons why increasing numbers of agricultural producers are outsourcing these ultra-precise, batch processes to fine chemical specialists across the world.
Synthesizing active ingredients requires a holistic approach with robust chemical manufacturing components to support processes comprising several sensitive steps. There are numerous chemistries that can be used for producing AIs for agricultural chemicals, including:
- Grignard chemistry;
- Heterocyclic synthesis;
- Azo chemistry;
- Suzuki coupling;
- Phosphorus additive synthesis.
This range of synthetic processes enables modern chemists to formulate active ingredients within distinct manufacturing parameters. These can then be compounded with adjuvants to dosage-specific ratios in accordance with the relevant certifications and requirements.
Active Ingredient Manufacturing with Jayhawk
Jayhawk is a world leader in fine chemical manufacturing, with extensive experience in producing chemical building blocks, intermediates, and active ingredients for agrochemical applications. Our facility is equipped to perform multiple chemical synthesis processes, and to act as a satellite for client-specific manufacturing.
To learn more about fine chemical solutions, read our previous article: What are Agrochemicals?
Acquire chemical intermediates and active ingredients on a made-to-order or on-demand basis, or take advantage of our hands-on expertise. Our high purity solvents are routinely used in chemical synthesis procedures to form active ingredient precursors.
If you would like any more information about producing active ingredients at Jayhawk, please do not hesitate to contact us.