Dr. Mihir Choudhari
Speakes on Industry - Academia Partnership : Successful case study of Ranitidine
Work on Science, Education and Society
• Endeavored to bring in the culture of higher learning in the NE region through quality
teaching at the post-graduate level and carrying out cutting-edge research in the domain of Chemistry and Chemical Technology.
• Published a large number of research papers in very highly rated international journals.
Many of our research findings and inventions have been highly cited in advanced level chemistry textbooks as well as research articles and reviews published by others
• Developed a number of environmentally benign experiments for graduate and
postgraduate students. Many of which are now being practiced in India and abroad.
• Some of our reagents and catalysts, namely, Pyridinum Flurochromate and Quaternary Ammonium Tribromides, for instance, are marketed by multinational companies like Sigma-Aldrich, E-merck, Acros Organics, Tokyo-Kasei and others.
• Developed an eco-friendly technology for metal acetylacetonates, a class of highly useful products required in pharma, defence program and other industries with the global requirement being several hundred tons per year. This technology has been transferred to SMS Pharmaceuticals and Oxygenica of Hyderabad. The materials are already in large-scale production at Hyderabad and exported.
• Developed catalysts for the conversion of mercaptans and DMS having obnoxious odor to a odorless and value added product DMSO thereby saving a Pharma industry at Hyderabad, producing hundreds of tons of Ranitidine Hydrochloride, from being closed down due to environmental legislations. Ranitidine Hydrochloride is an anti-ulcer drug with very high world market.
• Developed environmentally safe protocols for the production of tribromides as substitutes for the highly toxic chemical bromine, required for the production of bromo-organics used by pharma and agro industries.
• Developed clean, green and sustainable technology for the recovery of bromide from sea water involving bio-mimicking catalysts by-passing the direct production of the hazardous bromine that is also difficult to store and transport. This technology has been demonstrated to TATA Chemicals Ltd, Mithapur, and is now under active consideration of TCIL for up scaling and commercialization
• Delivered Lectures and organized workshops and seminars on Green Chemistry and its relevance to sustainable environment in different parts of the country in order to bring awareness to people in general and industries and other practitioners in particular.
• Developed catalysts and processes for deep desulfurization of transportation fuels to meet the newer legislations on clean fuels. This is based on the oxidative desulfurization of refractory sulfurs. The bench scale technology has been demonstrated to IOCL. Further work on up scaling is now going on as an IOCL sponsored project.
• Several colleges and universities have been helped in generating external fundings for modernizing their chemistry laboratories in order to be able to impart state-of-the-art training to their students.
