Acetonitrile
Ultra-high-purity Bio-ACN for synthesis, oligonucleotides, chromatography and life-science applications. Available for sale now.
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Renewable solvents platform
Decarbonizing pharma at the solvent layer.
Safion's platform begins with 100% bio-based, ultra-high-purity acetonitrile made from low-carbon feedstocks. The same catalytic architecture is designed to expand across the solvents that dominate API manufacturing.
Operating renewable-solvents pilot · Louisville, Colorado
100%Bio-based carbon source
~300×Lab-to-pilot scale-up
Up to 90 L/hrPilot operating rate
70-98%Modeled CI reduction pathway
The industry problem
Pharma cannot reach Scope 3 goals while its solvent layer stays fossil.
Major manufacturers have committed to deep value-chain reductions, including a 35% Scope 3 cut by 2030 and 90% by 2045, alongside an 80% absolute reduction across all scopes by 2030 and 90% by 2045.12 Yet the material system used to make active pharmaceutical ingredients is still dominated by solvents.
80-90%of the non-aqueous mass used to manufacture an API can be solvent.3
75-80%of the lifecycle environmental impact of API manufacturing can be attributed to solvents.3
A simple conclusion: pharmaceutical Scope 3 goals require lower-carbon solvents at industrial scale.
The Safion solution
A dedicated route to pharma-grade bio-acetonitrile.
Renewable feedstocks enter Safion's patented catalytic process. Near-quantitative conversion and integrated purification create a scalable ACN supply pathway that is independent of the incumbent acrylonitrile coproduct chain.
Operating pilot
01
100% bio-based carbon
The carbon in Safion Bio-ACN originates from renewable feedstocks rather than a fossil acrylonitrile value chain.
02
Near-quantitative conversion
The patented catalytic platform has demonstrated approximately 98% yield, supporting a compact and efficient process architecture.
03
Ultra-high-purity product
Integrated purification is designed around the demanding purity requirements of pharmaceutical, oligonucleotide and analytical applications.
04
Dedicated supply
Safion creates an independent route to acetonitrile instead of relying on the production economics of a petrochemical coproduct.
Evidence, not aspiration
Built, commissioned and operating at pilot scale.
Safion translated a $10 million DOE-funded technology foundation into Safion-owned process and purification IP, then scaled the platform approximately 300× from the National Laboratory of the Rockies (formerly NREL) laboratory to an operating pilot facility.
~300× scale-upFrom laboratory development to the current integrated pilot.
Up to 90 L/hrDemonstrated pilot operating rate for the solvent platform.
Commissioned skidsReaction and distillation systems built and operating in Colorado.
Product qualificationFirst product lots produced with third-party analytical testing.
One platform. Multiple solvents.
Acetonitrile first. A broader solvent portfolio next.
The catalytic and process-integration platform is designed to expand across solvent categories that drive pharmaceutical Scope 3 emissions.
Acetone
A high-volume solvent used across synthesis, cleaning, extraction and process operations.
Ethyl acetate
A broadly used extraction and reaction solvent with a clear renewable feedstock pathway.
Isopropanol
A ubiquitous pharmaceutical processing, cleaning and formulation solvent.
Isopropyl acetate
A lower-water-solubility ester solvent for extraction and specialty process chemistry.
Aromatic solvents
A pathway toward renewable BTX-class molecules for demanding chemical and materials applications.
Solvent decarbonization becomes a portfolio strategy, not a one-product purchase.
Safion is building a modular route across the solvents that dominate pharmaceutical manufacturing, enabling customers to achieve their Scope 3 goals across a broad portfolio of products.
Partnership opportunity
Turn Scope 3 commitments into a solvent supply agreement.
Selected industry context and technical references
- AstraZeneca, Climate change and Ambition Zero Carbon targets.
- GSK, Climate targets and value-chain emissions.
- Henderson et al., Expanding GSK's solvent selection guide, Green Chemistry 2011.
- Aboagye, Chea and Yenkie, Systems level roadmap for solvent recovery and reuse in industries, iScience 2021.
- SK pharmteco, Addressing the Acetonitrile Supply by Implementing Recovery and Reuse Strategies, 2026.