Mumbai, December 5, 2014 - Wacker, the Munich-based chemical company, is enhancing its scientific expertise in India by equipping its R&D facility in Kolkata with a novel high-tech Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) Spectrometer. The 400 MHz Nanobay NMR was officially put into operation today. NMR spectroscopy is one of the principal techniques used to obtain physical, chemical, and structural information about a molecule. Wacker is one of the very few manufacturing companies in India that operates such an in-house NMR at its R&D facility.

The high-tech equipment was delivered in summer and was tested meticulously over the past weeks. "Our industry demands testing and evaluation of novel compounds in a wide range of chemical space to feed its pipelines," Mr Soumitra Mukherjee, Managing Director, Wacker Metroark Chemicals Pvt Ltd, said during the launch ceremony. "The installation of the NMR will help leverage our R&D centre capabilities and will multiply our possibilities to create new innovations. With this, we are able to fulfill our customers' needs in the growing regions of India and Asia and also cater to our key global customers," Mr Mukherjee continued.

A NMR spectrometer is an analytical research instrument, which provides detailed information about the structure, dynamics, reaction state, and chemical environment of molecules. In organic chemistry, it is the ultimate analytical capability. Wacker will use this equipment for the structural analysis of silicones, silanes and allied substances and for detailed information on the exact three-dimensional structure of chemical molecules in a solution.

Wacker Metroark Chemicals Pvt Ltd (WMC) is headquartered in Kolkata and responsible for production, marketing and sales activities in the Indian subcontinent relating to Wacker silicone products. The joint venture - in which Wacker has a 51 per cent stake - was set up in 1998 and is active in greater India's most important trade centres with sales offices in Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, and Chennai, as well as in Dhaka in Bangladesh. Key markets are the textile, personal care, construction, coatings, transmission and distribution, automotive, plastics, adhesives, and packaging sectors. The company also markets Wacker sealants, silanes and pyrogenic silica in India.