Home> Press Release> Press Release (2004)> ZEON Corporation Completes New Specialty Chemical Synthesis Plant in Yonezawa
CityZEON Corporation Completes New Specialty Chemical Synthesis Plant inYonezawa CityMay 21, 2004
On May 20, 2004, ZEON Corporation (Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo; President & CEO: Naozumi Furukawa) cerebrated thecompletion of a new specialty chemical synthesis pilot plant at ZEON Chemicals Yonezawa Co., Ltd. (Yonezawa
City, Yamagata; President: Shigemitsu Kamiya).
The multi-purpose pilot plant was constructed to manufacture specialty synthetic aroma chemicals and developand manufacture such new products as optically active intermediates using a new optical resolution agent,
representing the next leap forward for our Specialty Chemicals Business.

ZEON's Specialty Chemicals Business comprises synthetic aroma chemicals, industrial chemicals, andintermediates for medicines and agricultural chemicals, all of which are developed with our unique C5 raw
materials and based on our proprietary synthesis technology. They play an important role in terms of ourcomprehensive use of C5 raw materials, the exclusive domain of ZEON worldwide. The new pilot plant will
strengthen this business by developing new products, whilst the new plant of cyclopentanone, which wasconstructed earlier in this year at our Mizushima Plant will boost the existing businesses.
Synthesis facilities for synthetic aroma chemicals are already in operation at ZEON Chemicals Yonezawa, as
well as at the Mizushima Plant, ZEON's main plant for manufacturing synthetic aroma chemicals. However, thenewly constructed plant will manufacture specialty products to meet increased demand both in Japan andoverseas. In addition, a new optically active intermediates will be manufactured at the pilot plant using an
innovative optical resolution technology developed in a joint study with Tokushima University. Demand for
optically active substances, whose superior properties are valued in the fields of medicine, aroma chemicals andmaterials for information technologies, has increased and is expected to see significant growth. The researchand development of this optical resolution agent was adopted as a project under the sponsorship of the New
Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization (NEDO).
Supplementary Explanation of Optical Resolution
A pair of compounds with a mirror image relationship and that cannot be combined are called optically activesubstances. Pairs of optically active substances often exhibit different individual effects, both in terms of humanperceptive functions such as the sense of smell, and pharmaceutical efficacy. For example, 1-Octen-3-ol, a majorflavor component of Tricholoma matsutake mushrooms, consists of a pair of optically active substances: one withthe pleasing scent of Tricholoma matsutake, the other producing an undesirable musty aroma. Likewise,
thalidomide is a medicine with an excellent sedative effect on the one hand, but at the same time it is harmful tothe human body. Therefore, to isolate only the appealing aromatic property of Tricholoma matsutake or thesedative effect of thalidomide, it is necessary to obtain only one of the optically active substances. However,
optically active substances exhibit similar physical and chemical properties and are therefore extremely difficult
to separate using conventional methods. The technology to obtain only the desired optically active substancefrom these pairs is called optical resolution and the chemical compound used for optical resolution is called a
optical resolution agent.

For further information
Zeon Corporation,
Department of Corporate Communications
Tel: +81-3-3216-2747