New Cosmetics Ingredient
Problem
Cosmetics companies love to differentiate themselves with unique ingredients. A new cosmetics ingredient gives them the edge, especially when they have exclusive access. I was working at a specialty chemicals company and when I saw a new starting material presented at a conference I realized it was just what we needed to synthesize an exciting molecule with special properties. The molecule had been made before, so it was known that the properties were good, but the previous synthesis method involved too many steps making the molecule too costly for broader adoption.
Action
I ordered a sample of the new chemical and our chemist got to work seeing if we could synthesize the new molecule we wanted to create. Luckily the synthesis worked very well giving pure product and in high yield. Often some luck is needed when creating something truly new. We added the new substance to our catalogue and started testing to find what special properties it had.
Solution
We found that the properties included water-solubility, extreme lubricity and low melting point. This made us think it could be perfect as a new cosmetics ingredient. We targeted the cosmetics industry by writing an article, presenting at an industry conference and getting an INCI name assigned. It was very gratifying to see not only major sales, but that cosmetics was indeed the main new application, just as we had imagined.