i n n o v a t i v e c h e m i c a l s o l u t i o n s

www.pentagonchemicals.co.uk
Fine Chemicals
Halebank, Widnes,
Cheshire WA8 8NS
United Kingdom
T: +44 (0)151 424 3671
F: +44 (0)151 424 7906
E: enquires@pentagonchemicals.co.uk
Specialty Chemicals
Workington, Northside,
Cumbria CA14 1JJ
United Kingdom
T: +44 (0)1900 604371
F: +44 (0)1900 66943
E: enquires@pentagonchemicals.co.uk
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Pentagon is a leading UK based manufacturer of organic intermediates for use in the life science, petrochemical, and specialty chemicals
markets. Offering exclusive synthesis and a wide range of own products the privately owned company has sales of over GBP 40M
per annum and employs around 200 people at our ISO 9001 and 14001 accredited sites in Halebank and Workington.
With over 65 years experience in
the manufacture of complex organic
intermediates and more than 30 years
at the forefront of specialty chemicals
production Pentagon is recognised
worldwide as a leader in the supply of
molecules for use in life science and
other advanced markets.
Working in close collaboration with
our customers we offer bespoke
development and manufacturing
services as well as an extensive range
of high quality multi-application
products. Focused on maximising
customer value our business is centred
on combining operational excellence
with strengths in core technologies.
Bromination
Chlorination
Grignard reagents
Maleinisation
Phosgenation
Sodium dispersion
Wherever possible we seek to build
secure, long term partnerships
enabling the identification,
development and production of new
molecules to be backed with a
guarantee of the highest levels of
service, reliability and trust.
From single stage reactions to
innovative multi-stage synthesis our
products can be found in many of
todays state of the art applications
including: agents for paper sizing,
corrosion inhibitors for oil
exploration, detergents & lubricants
for improved engine efficiency, as
well as catalysts for petrochemical
refining, world leading cardiovascular
and HIV drugs, herbicides,
insecticides and
rodenticides.
Geographic Profile
Business Profile
Market Profile
Pharma
Agro
Petrochem
Paper
Fuel & Lube
Oil
F&F
Surfactants
Others
UK Europe USA/ROW
Own Contract
79%
2%
5%
7%
8%
9%
9%
25%
23%
18%
33% 42%
25%
1%
21%
Company
Pentagon was originally founded
in 1975 on the site of an old brick
works in Workington. Having quickly
established itself as a manufacturer
of benzoate esters for use in the
paint and food industries the
company diversified over the course
of the next 25 years adding new
chemistries and entering the oil, fuel
and pharmaceutical markets.
Expansion during this time was
facilitated by the owners of the
company a number of large multi
national organisations. However in
2002 the opportunity to create a
small, flexible company focused
primarily on the needs of its
customers was identified and
Pentagon Chemicals Ltd was
formed through a management buy
out led by members of its senior
management team.
A strategy of building the company
through a combination of strong
organic growth allied to selective
acquisition of businesses offering
complementary technologies to the
existing toolbox led to the purchase
of the fine chemicals operations at
Halebank in December 2003. The
addition of the new site brought not
only additional chemistries to the
group but a long tradition of
successful new product innovation
in the pharmaceutical, agrochemical,
petrochemical and photographic
industries.
W
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G
T
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H
A
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B
A
N
K
1939
Ward Blenkinsop
established to produce
anaesthetics and
sulphonamide antibiotics
for the war effort.
1950s
Producing more than 300 products
including anaesthetics, chemotherapy
drugs, fungicides, paracetamol,
penicillin intermediates, tranquilisers,
UV absorbers and vitamins.
1978
Built large scale plant
initially for penicillin
intermediate later
adapted for agrochemical
manufacture.
1980
Acquired
by Shell.
1986
Phosgene
plant built.
1988
Phosgene
generator
installed.
1992
Purchased by
Great Lakes.
2003
Purchased by
Pentagon.
1975
Company formed
produces sodium
benzoate and
benzoate esters.
1985
Biocide
business
established.
1989
Acquired by
Suter Plc.
1995
Fuel
additives
plant
built.
1996
Purchased
by
Ascot Plc.
1998
Grignard
plant built.
2001
Acquired
by
Dow Plc.
2002
Management
buy out led by
Allan Laing.
History
A commitment to protecting our
workers and the environment is
central to our philosophy and
provides the foundation for the
future development and success of
our business.
In recognition that safe and
environmentally secure
manufacturing facilities are essential
to building good relationships with
our customers, neighbours,
regulators and suppliers both our
Halebank (a top tier COMAH) and
Workington sites are accredited to
the internationally acknowledged
standard BS EN ISO 14001.
As part of our drive for continuous
improvement in the area of health,
safety and the environment
Pentagon is a signatory to the
Chemical Industries Association
Responsible Care & Sustainable
Development programmes as well
as endorsing the Goals and Guiding
Principles for Sustainable Business
Practice.
Moreover, we actively pursue
opportunities to eliminate waste in
all its forms: from fully integrated
new product introductions to
facilitate fast access to market,
through process improvements to
enhance productivity, reduce waste
and cost, onto managing customers
supply chains, removing unnecessary
stock movements, lowering
transport costs and diminishing
environmental
impact.
Safety, Health & Environment
Meeting customer expectations
is the highest priority at
Pentagon and to guarantee that
all materials are supplied to the
exacting standards each of our
customers require we take a
rigorous approach to quality at all
stages of the product life cycle.
In early development we work
closely with our customers to
identify and build the robust
specifications and methods of
analysis that ensure the correct
material is produced. As the product
moves into commercialisation we
undertake validation exercises to
ascertain that the chosen analysis is
reliable and fit for purpose.
In manufacture we operate using
carefully selected raw materials from
approved suppliers, standard
operating procedures with full batch
documentation as well as rigorous
decontamination procedures to
guarantee the integrity of the
product.
Our team of highly trained
independent quality control
chemists conduct the agreed
analysis on each batch and release
only material meeting the full
customer specification.
As well as the local quality control
procedures we are fully compliant
with the internationally recognised
BS EN ISO 9001 standard.
All processes and procedures are
fully audited by internal teams but
as part of our continuous
improvement culture we actively
encourage our customers to visit
and feedback
to us.
Quality
From new product introductions
to commercial manufacture
Pentagon operates a multi-
disciplinary product team
approach to drive our continuous
improvement culture. In addition to
ensuring full compliance with
customer requirements for on-time
in-full deliveries and quality the
teams focus on key areas to improve:
these include the identification and
realisation of yield improvements,
productivity enhancement via cycle
time reduction and increased batch
size, waste minimisation and solvent
recycle.
Our team of highly trained chemists
provide product support from the
initial lab synthesis through to full
scale manufacture. We pride
ourselves in providing rapid
evaluation of new enquiries, fast
track synthesis of target molecules
and successful translation into
qualification batches and commercial
manufacture.
State of the art facilities enable
processes to be scaled from a few
grams at the bench using standard
glassware through to kilo and multi
kilo batches prepared in our 10L
and 25L reactors.
The pilot plant offers the capability
to emulate all commercial scale
reactions conducted within the
group plus low pressure
hydrogenation. Housing a
combination of glass lined and
fluoroshield reactors plus solids
isolation and drying equipment the
unit is integral in the development
of new
molecules.
Research & Development
Flexible
Innovative
Responsive
Service
Technology
Our Core Values ...
At Pentagon our custom synthesis
offering and range of own products is
built around strengths in six core
technologies.
Bromination
Chlorination
Grignard reagents
Malenisation
Phosgenation
Sodium dispersion
By focusing on a clearly defined
technology portfolio we are able to offer
our customers advantages in: knowledge
of the latest applications and issues
surrounding core chemistries; flexible,
fully compatible plant; strengths in raw
material purchasing and storage; full
compliance with current health and safety
legislation as well as leading thinking on
future changes to regulations.
In addition to our core technologies we
are able to perform a much wider range
of reactions (these include acetylations,
alkylations, aminations, benzylation,
cyclisations, cyanations, esterifications,
etherfications, quaternisation,
polymerisations, vilsmeier and reductions)
which can be used to support our
unique toolbox of
chemistries.
Our site at Halebank has
considerable experience in the
handling and use of both elemental
bromine and hydrobromic acid. Bulk
storage of bromine, a dedicated
plant and advanced product
purification capability enables the
isolation of high boiling liquids as
well as low melting solids.
Key Plant
Dedicated bromination unit
Distillation unit with 15 theoretical
plates and vacuum to 5mBar
Fully DCS controlled
Bulk bromine
Bromination
B
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C
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A wide range of chlorinated
intermediates can be manufactured
at our Halebank site. As well as fully
integrated bulk chlorine storage and
handling the site has significant
experience in the use of phosphorus
oxychloride, sulphuryl chloride and
thionyl chloride.
Key Plant
9.0m
3
GL and SS vessels
Fully DCS controlled
Temperature -10C to 140C
Hastelloy Rosenmund filter dryers
Isolated product pack off room
Solvent recycle facility
Chlorination
G
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Our purpose built Grignard plant at
Workington offers advanced
capability in the manufacture of
reagents and their downstream
derivatives. In addition to a wide
range of own products in standard
solvents and concentrations we also
offer custom manufacture of
downstream products utilising more
concentrated solutions than could be
commercially shipped.
Grignard Plant
4 4.5m
3
GL vessels
Fully DCS controlled
Temperature -15C to 150C
Distillation unit with 26
theoretical plates
Hastelloy filter dryer
Bulk and drum handling
Grignards
M
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Bulk storage of molten maleic
anhydride coupled to over 170m
3
of
dedicated manufacturing capacity
enables significant economies of
scale to be realised in the production
of a wide range of derivatives.
Large Scale Plant 1
4.5m
3
to 33m
3
SS vessels
Temperature ambient to 250C
Vacuum 5mBar
Distillation with up to 14
theoretical plates
Heated bulk storage tanks
Large Scale Plant 2
27m
3
to 33m
3
SS vessels
Fully DCS controlled
Temperature ambient to 250C
Vacuum to 5mBar
SS wiped film evaporator 2m
2
heating area
Heated bulk storage tanks
Maleinisation
P
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N
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N
With over 40 years experience of
phosgene chemistry Pentagon is at the
forefront of phosgenated intermediates
and their downstream derivatives.
The state of the art facilities include on
demand phosgene generation and a
flexible, fully sequenced plant capable
of manufacturing solid and liquid
products. Minimal inventories of
phosgene combined with continued
investment in our plant ensure that
safety and environmental controls meet
the most exacting standards.
Phosgenation Unit
6.3 9.0m
3
GL and SS vessels
Fully sequence DCS controlled
Temperature -10C to 140C
Phosgene generation 200Kg
per hour
Hastelloy Rosenmund filter-dryers
2 x 8.5m
2
2 GL unit distillation units with up
to 15 theoretical plates
High vacuum 5mBar
Phosgenation
Sodium dispersion
The high temperature dissolution of
sodium metal in a mineral oil to give
a stable but highly reactive dispersion
offers a commercially viable, cost
effective route to the large scale
manufacture of organo-sodium
compounds. Benefiting from over
20 years research and development
Pentagons unique combination of
optimised particle size and
proprietary reagents offer a clean,
predictable chemistry with high
isolated product yields.
Sodium Dispersion Unit
2.25m
3
GL vessels
Temperature -10C to 140C
Centrifuge
Established sodium
dispergation unit
N
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