N-Methylpyrrolidone

Brief Overview
N-Methylpyrrolidone (NMP) is a high boiling, polar aprotic, low viscosity liquid. NMP has a good solvency for a wide range of organic and inorganic compounds and it is miscible with water at all temperatures and has a high chemical and thermal stability.

Manufacturing Process
NMP is industrially produced by a typical ester-to-amide conversion, by treating butyrolactone with methylamine. Alternative routes include the partial hydrogenation of N-methylsuccinimide and the reaction of acrylonitrile with methylamine followed by hydrolysis.

Agrochemicals
NMP can be used as solvent during synthesis or as a formulation agent.

Electronics
NMP is used as photoresist stripper, for defluxing, degreasing and cleaning.

Petrochemical Processing
NMP is used as extraction medium in several industrial processes because of its affinity for unsaturated hydrocarbons and aromatics, for example butadiene recovery, BTX extraction, lube oil purification.

Pharmaceuticals
It is used as a drug solubilizer and penetration enhancer in human topical dosage forms, and for the same purposes in parenteral and topical veterinary products.

Solvent & Cleaning Agent
It is used for surface treatment of textiles, resins, and metal coated plastics. It may be used for paint stripping, graffiti removers, oven cleaners, in automotive and industrial cleaner formulations.

Synthesis Material Intermediates
It is used to produce fine chemicals from mass-produced chemicals.