Catechol, also known as 1,2-dihydroxybenzene, is a colorless aromatic alcohol which is rapidly soluble in both water and organic solvents. Catechol is naturally synthesized by microorganisms or can be synthetically obtained as an intermediary product by aromatic degradation. Owing to its rich redox chemistry and excellent chelating properties, catechol finds numerous applications in dyes, pharmaceutics and developing photographic films. For instance, in the pharmaceutical industry, catechol is employed in medicines as an expectorant. The global market is expected to be driven by increasing demand for catechol in end-use industries such as
agrochemicals and pharmaceuticals. This is largely attributed to the rising demand of catechol as a precursor in the production of pesticides, perfumes, and medicines. For instance, catechol-O-methyltransferase (COMT), when combined with L-dopa, is an effectual treatment for Parkinson's disease. In addition, the up-surging demand of catechol in the production of flavoring agents such vanillin and ethyl-vanillin in food & beverage industry is likely to fuel the market growth in coming years. Some of the key trends observed are the ongoing developments in biomedical applications coupled with the increasing demand for catechol-based bioadhesives on account of good surface compatibility with different surfaces. This is likely to fuel the demand for catechol during the forecast period. For instance, catechol derivatives are conjugated with biopolymers bearing
carboxyl group such as alginate, and heparin to produce bioadhesives, which are well suited for tissue engineering and drug-delivery applications.However, direct exposure to catechol during its manufacturing can result in skin diseases such as eczematous dermatitis in humans. Also, the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC 1999), reported that catechol could be carcinogenic in experimental animals. This restraint is likely to hamper the catechol market worldwide.
Regional Analysis The global catechol market has been analyzed for five major regions—North America, Asia-Pacific, Europe, Latin America, and the Middle East & Africa. Asia-Pacific dominates the catechol market and is projected to register the highest CAGR during the forecast period owing to vast arable lands and rapid industrialization in the region. The increased use of catechol as a precursor to produce pesticides in expanding agrochemical industries is expected to drive the regional market demand. China is the largest consumer in the region due to the increasing exports of pesticides from the country. According to FAO, in 2018, the total pesticides export value reached worth USD 5.2 billion from USD 6,760 million in 2017, thus making it world's largest pesticide market. Furthermore, India and other Southeast Asian countries are additionally propelling the regional market growth on account of the growing food & beverage industry. Hence, creating lucrative opportunities for the players operating in catechol market in the region. The North American market accounted for a substantial market share in 2018. The growing demand for catechol as a raw material in the production of pharmaceutics and increasing biomedical applications is driving the growth of the regional market. In addition, with the rising advancements in the US coupled with emerging multifunctional applications such as energy storage and functional coatings is further driving the regional market growth. The European market is expected to showcase significant growth during the forecast period. This is largely attributed to the increasing use of catechol as a raw material in personal care & cosmetic industry to manufacture soaps, perfumes, dyes, and other skincare products is expected to drive the regional market demand. Germany is the leading country, followed by France and UK. The Latin American and Middle East & Africa regions are expected to show substantial growth during the forecast period owing to rising food& beverage industry and increased disposable income in the region.
Segmentation The global catechol market has been segmented by form, end use, and region. Based on form, the market is classified into flakes and molten. Based on end-use, the market has been classified into pharmaceutical, agrochemicals, food and beverage, personal care & cosmetics, and others. By region, the market has been categorized as North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, Latin America, and the Middle East & Africa.
Key Players Solvay (Belgium),
Camlin Fine Sciences Ltd (India), UBE INDUSTRIES, LTD. (Japan), Lianyungang Sanjili Chemical Industry Co. (China), K. K. Poonja & Sons (India), Sisco Research Laboratories Pvt. Ltd. (India) and Alfa Aesar (US).
Recent developmentMarch 2021- the Institute of Process Engineering (IPE) research group led by Prof. Wan Yinhua has developed a dually charged, robust loose nanofiltration (NF) membrane for greatly efficient dye/salt separation. The research was published in the Journal of Membrane Science.NF is an efficient technique to treat textile wastewater. However, the NF membranes most commercially show low selectivity in dye/salt separation owing to their negatively charged, dense separation layer. Based on a basic catechol-amine chemistry surface engineering strategy, the team created an NF membrane with a dually charged and loose separation layer.In the approach, polyethyleneimine (PEI) was applied on a hydrolyzed polyacrylonitrile substrate to build a positively charged intermediate layer, trailed by poly-γ-glutamic acid (γ-PGA) and co-deposition of tannic acid (TA) to build a negatively charged top layer.The loose separation layer structure was credited to the viable reaction tempted by polyphenols. The electrostatic adsorption, hydrogen bonding, and covalent interactions among TA, γ-PGA and PEI impeded the quick non-uniform self-polymerization of TA.The pre-reaction between γ-PGA and TA could further deteriorate those competitive reactions, regulating the pore size and charging property and resulting in improving the separation performance.
Intended Audience
