Amidoflumet is a new trifluoromethanesulfonanilide compound with high house dust miticidal activity which was discovered by Sumitomo Chemical, and was registered in Japan in 2004. House dust mites and their products are known to be major household allergens to children and the elderly, and they cause asthma and atopic dermatitis. Amidoflumet shows high lethal activity against common house dust mites. In particular amidoflumet has excellent activity against predatory cheyletid mites, which often cause biting injuries to humans. These efficacies and its excellent safety to mammals can provide us with an important tool for controlling various house dust mites. This paper describes the discovery story, miticidal efficacies in various formulations, a method of synthesis and safety evaluations of amidoflumet.
(by Tatsuya MORI,Noritada MATSUO,Makoto HATAKOSHI,Yasuyori TANAKA,Keiko OSE )

Synchrotron X-ray and neutron scattering are very useful methods to investigate the hierarchical structure and structure-property relationship of polymeric materials at a microscopic level. Our company makes extensive use of quantum beams such as those from synchrotron and neutron sources in cooperation with advanced research facilities for deeply understanding the nature of polymeric materials. In this paper, we introduce state-of-art experimental techniques and industrial applications of advanced quantum beam sources to polyolefin materials as part of our research activities.
(by Takashi SAKURAI,Yoshinobu NOZUE,Tatsuya KASAHARA,Noboru YAMAGUCHI )

Many manufacturing processes for active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) and their manufacturing intermediates consist of reaction, post-processing, crystallization, filtration and drying operations. Particularly during filtration operations, we sometimes have operational troubles which can cause product quality deterioration and a large decrease in productivity and work efficiency. Therefore, it is important to stabilize filtration operation during API manufacturing processes. In this paper, we would like to introduce several scale-up techniques from a small experimental scale to a commercial manufacturing scale by focusing mainly on operational condition setting of key parameters in centrifugal filtration processes.
(by Kunitoshi TAKAHASHI,Susumu SHIOJIRI )

The grinding rate of gibbsite in tumbling and rocking ball mills using fins was well correlated with the specific impact energy of the balls calculated from Discrete Element Method simulation. This relationship was successfully used for the scale-up of a rocking ball mill, and the optimum design and operating conditions for the rocking ball mill could be estimated by the specific impact energy of the balls calculated by a computer simulation.
(by Makio KIMURA,Masayuki NARUMI,Tomonari KOBAYASHI )

The greatest feature of Sumitomo Chemical's chemical management system is comprehensiveness based on our broad knowledge and technical ability as a chemical manufacturer. Furthermore, in order to practice risk communication, we are proactively holding dialogue with, and releasing information to, our diverse range of stakeholders, keeping in mind our motto "It is a mission for enterprises to grow together with the local community". In February 2007 such efforts were finally acknowledged, when Sumitomo Chemical received the 2006 PRTR Grand Prize, the first time for a chemical company. Our company's approach to chemical management and risk communication will be outlined in this document.
(by Tsuneo NARA )

A lighting system called direct type is usually employed for backlight systems in large size LCD-TVs. With this type of backlight system, a diffuser plate has to be mounted in order to blur the images of CCFLs and to hold several thin optical films. We have developed diffuser plates with properties which are specially optimized for this type of backlight system, and have released them onto the market. In this report, the properties that are required for diffuser plates and our R&D activity will be described.
(by Akiyoshi KANEMITSU,Takashi SAKAMOTO,Hironobu IYAMA )

We have developed "Rakuichi^®", a forefront one-shot basal application fertilizer for paddy rice varieties such as Koshihikari which has a good taste but falls down easily because of its long culm. Thanks to the fertilizer coating technologies of Sumitomo Chemical, "Rakuichi^®" uses world-first technology to control releases of both fertilizer and the uniconazole-P plant growth regulator. Just by applying "Rakuichi^®" at the basal application time, efficacy of the fertilizer is raised at the best additional fertilization time and continues to the late growth stage, something which is impossible for conventional one-shot basal application fertilizers because of the risk of lodging. This report outlines the characteristics and effects of "Rakuichi^®" on rice growth, yield and grain quality.
(by Hideyuki SHIBATA,Yoshihiro TAKEBAYASHI )

Sumitomo's high-purity alumina has been manufactured by the method of hydrolysis of aluminum alkoxide since 1981, and the present production capacity is 1500t/Y. High-purity alumina is used in areas such as displays, energy, automobiles, semiconductors and computers and demand for it is growing steadily. In this paper, a general view of recent applications for high-purity alumina is introduced, and our newly-developed high-purity alumina products are also described.
(by Shinji FUJIWARA,Yasuaki TAMURA,Hajime MAKI,Norifumi AZUMA,Yoshiaki TAKEUCHI )

The production process for cured rubber requires several steps, including mixing by an internal mixer, mixing by an open roll, molding with an extruder and vulcanizing using hot-air tunnel, and this is one of the reasons for higher production costs than other resin parts. In recent years we have aimed at the development of ethylene-propylene-nonconjugated diene rubber (EPDM) grades with good processability characteristics that minimize production costs. We have already included in our line-up the new grade "Esprene^® 7456" as a Good Processability grade designed for continuous vulcanized sponges. In this report, we present our new Good Processability EPDM grade cured by a peroxide curing system which is designed for anti-vibration rubber parts. This new grade has excellent roll mixing processability even with a low loading formulation, and provides high performance for anti-vibration rubber parts especially for next-generation muffler hangers.
(by Sadayuki NAKANO,Tatsuo SASSA )

Membrane separation is the separation from a mixture, of components of different molecular weights or different chemical properties utilizing the separation ability of membranes. It is a far less energy intensive process than distillation because it doesn't involve any phase changes. Furthermore, the application of membrane technology is not limited to just separation ; emulsifications and reactions are also possible. The authors of this paper are currently working to develop processes based on such technologies and here they introduce some new technologies and report on their progress in applying these technologies to the separation of resin solutions, effluent treatment and the advanced purification of pigments.
(by Masahiko KURUMATANI,Takenori KITAURA )

Embryonic stem (ES) cells are pluripotent stem cells that have the capacity for self-renewal and multilineage differentiation, and they have recently started to be used in the safety evaluation of chemicals. The novel in vitro embryotoxicity test (EST) that utilized the differentiation ability of mouse ES cells into cardiomyocytes was established in Germany. We could obtain results which were equal to the validation study performed in Europe and will apply the test system to a preliminary assessment of new chemicals. In addition, we have participated in one of the national projects to improve this test system to make it much simpler and more precise.
(by Nobuyuki HORIE,Hashihiro HIGUCHI,Satoshi KAWAMURA,Koichi SAITO,Noriyuki SUZUKI )