Journal of Drug Discovery and Development

Volume 2, Issue 1 - 2018, Pg. No. 18-23

Peer Reviewed & Open Access Journal
Research Article

Manufacturing and Mass Balance of

Copper Phthalocyanine (CPC) Blue and
Green Pigments
Ashok K Rathoure1, Savita Goyal Aggarwal2
1
Eco Group of Companies, New Civil Road, Surat (GJ) India.
2
Dept. of Chemistry, GRD Institute of Management and Technology, 12, Rajpur Road, Dehradun, Uttarakhand, India.

Abstract
Organic pigments are cost-effective, non-toxic, and possess good color strength, which makes them good
choice for their use across various end-use sectors. Copper phthalocyanine (CPC) blue is the copper (II)
complex of tetra aza tetra benzoporphine (CPC) whereas phthalocyanine green is its chlorinated derivative.
The brominated derivatives of CPC provide a yellowish green shade. The specific crystal modification
decides the hue of the product as in Alpha Blue-red shade copper phthalocyanine (Pigment Blue 15) and
in Beta Blue-green shade blue (Pigment Blue 15:3). CPC Blue is an upstream product and is a raw material
used for the manufacture of our Pigment Blue and Pigment Green products. CPC Blue is also sold to other
manufacturers of pigments including a related party for the manufacture of textile dyestuffs. Here we have
presented the manufacturing process of two organic pigments – CPC Green and Blue.

Keywords: CPC Green, Beta Blue, Ink, Manufacturing, Textile, Tint

Introduction
Manufacture of organic pigments with good light fastness
property is gaining traction among global manufacturers.
Besides, developing countries such as China and India are
shifting towards becoming the center of global organic
pigments market, both from the demand and supply side.
The manufacturing of organic pigment is in a cautious
phase as API bulk drug.3 The information sheet for organic
pigments is listed in Table 1.
Copper Phthalocyanine (CPC) Blue is the copper (II)
complex of tetra aza tetra benzoporphine (CPC) whereas
Phthalocyanine Green is its chlorinated derivative. The
brominated derivatives of CPC provide a yellowish green
shade. The specific crystal modification decides the
hue of the product as in Alpha Blue – red shade copper
phthalocyanine (Pigment Blue 15), and in Beta Blue – green
shade blue (Pigment Blue 15:3). The alpha modification is
phase stabilized by partial chlorination called solvent stable
Alpha Blue or Pigment Blue 15:1. The alpha modification
which is stabilized towards flocculation and the phase
change is registered as Pigment Blue 15:2. These pigments
find use in paints. Pigment Blue is a cyclic product of copper
and reaction between phthalic anhydride and urea. Alpha
Blue and Beta Blue are variations of Phthlocyanine Blues.
Alpha Blue is redder in shade and of smaller particle size
and is available as crystallizing type and non-crystallizing
non-flocculating type. Beta Blue yields bright greenish
blue shades with slightly lower tintorial strength. Beta
Blue is of a more stable crystal formulation than Alpha
Blue and is available as the non-crystallizing type and the
non-crystallizing non-flocculating type.

Corresponding Author: Ashok K Rathoure, Eco Group of Companies, New Civil Road, Surat (GJ) India.
E-mail Id: asokumr@gmail.com
Orcid Id: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9131-1346
How to cite this article: Rathoure AK, Aggarwal SG. Manufacturing and Mass Balance of Copper Phthalocyanine (CPC) Blue and
Green Pigments. J Durg Dis Dev 2018; 2(1): 18-23.

Copyright (c) 2018 Journal of Drug Discovery and Development

 Rathoure AK et al.
19 J. Durg. Dis. Dev. 2018; 2(1)

Table 1.Information Sheet for Organic Pigments

Particular Copper Phthalocyanine (CPC) Green CPC Beta Blue
Physical state Solid Solid
CAS No. 1328-53-6 147-14-8
Formula C32Cl16CuN8 CuC32H16N8
MW (g/mol) 1127.154 576.0690
Uses Inks, coatings and many plastics, in manufacturing of other pigments in the category
Toxicity Serious birth defects in developing embryos; non-bio-degradable
LD50 >3 g per kg body weight >5 g per kg body weight
LC50 >250 mg/L for 48 h >100 mg/L for 48 h
Reference Sandor et al. 1
OECD SIDS, 1990

Raw Material
The list of raw material required for the manufacturing of two organic pigments is shown in Table 2.
Table 2.Raw Material Consumption (per ton of product)
Organic Pigments Raw Material Physical State Raw Material Consumption (per ton of product)
CPC Green Aluminum Chloride Solid 1.928
Salt Solid 0.3
CPC Blue Solid 0.571
Cupric Chloride Solid 0.085
Chlorine Gas Liquid/Gas 1.265
MCB (Recovered) Liquid 2.97
MCB (Fresh) Liquid 0.03
Caustic lye Liquid 0.16
Emulsifier Liquid 0.02
Oleic Acid Liquid 0.02
Beta Blue CPC Blue Solid 1.02
Salt Solid 0.15
Xylene (Recovered) Liquid 2.940
Xylene (Fresh) Liquid 0.06
Emulsifier Liquid 0.025
Caustic Liquid 0.05

Manufacturing Process for Copper Phthalocyanine green crude wet cake.

Green
• Chlorination: In a glass-lined reactor, eutectic mixture
of aluminum chloride and sodium chloride is prepared
and is melted. Now CPC AD blue and cupric chloride are
charged. The chlorine gas is purged till the drawdown
is found O.K. The mass is then drowned.
• Drowning: In a vessel, water is taken. The chlorinated
mass is then received slowly. The mass is stirred and
filtered.
• Filtration: Drowned mass is filtered and is then washed
to make it free of chloride or aluminum. This gives CPC
• Pigmentation: In a reactor, monochlorobenzene, water
and caustic soda lye are mixed. Now dispersing agents
are added to it and an emulsion is prepared. The
wet cake from above stage is taken to it and stirring
is continued. The mass is then refluxed. Solvent
monochlorobenzene is then recovered by distillation
and the mass is filtered.
• Filtration: The suspended slurry is then filtered and is
washed to make it free of alkali.
• Drying: The wet cake from above filtration is dried in
a spin flash dryer.
Rathoure AK et al.
J. Durg. Dis. Dev. 2018; 2(1) 20

CHEMICAL REACTION COPER PHTHALO CYANINE GREEN

Figure 1.Structure of CPC Green

N C C N

N
C C Cl Cl
+ 16 Cl2
N Cu N (1136)
Cl Cl
C
N C

N C C N
N C C N
Cl
Cl N
Cl C C Cl
N Cu N

Cl C Cl
N C
CuC32H15N8 Cl Cl
N C C
Copper Phthalo Cyanine Blue N
(575.5) + 16 HCl
CuC32Cl15N8
(584)
Cl
Copper Phthalo Cyanine Green Cl
(1127.5)
Cl Cl

Figure 2.Chemical Reaction CPC Green

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21 J. Durg. Dis. Dev. 2018; 2(1)

MASS BALANCE OF CPC GREEN

Water: 583 kgs
AlCl3 : 1928 kgs
Salt: 300 kgs
CPC Blue: 571 kgs CHLORINATION Unreacted Chlorine gas: 250 kgs Three stage Scrubber
CuCl2 : 85 kgs
Cl2 gas: 1265 kgs
HCl (30%): 833 kgs
DROWNING
Water: 12000 kgs

AlCl3 Soln. (10-12%): 12000 kgs

Water: 22500 kgs FILTERATION & WASHING
Effluent to ETP: 22000 Kgs

MCB: 3000 kgs

Water: 1200 kgs PIGMENTATION
Caustic: 160 kgs MCB recovered: 2970 kgs
Oleic Acid: 20 kgs MCB loss: 30 kgs
Emulsifer: 20 kgs

FILTERATION Effluent to ETP: 23299 kgs

Water: 20000 kgs
& WASHING

SPIN FLASH Evaporation loss: 1500 kgs

DRYER

CPC GREEN: 1000 kgs

Figure 3.Mass Balance of CPC Green

Figure 4.Hazardous Waste Management during Manufacturing of CPC Green

Rathoure AK et al.
J. Durg. Dis. Dev. 2018; 2(1) 22

Manufacturing of CPC Beta Blue with solvent at 90ºC.

• Filtration and Washing: The mass is filtered off in filter
• Ball Milling: Copper Phthalocyanine Blue is milled press, and washed up to neutral pH.
along with vacuum salt below 70ºC. It is unloaded and • Drying: The wet cake is dried in a spin flash drier and
transferred
PROCESS forFLOW
pigmentation.
DIAGRAM WITH MASS BALANCE finally
OF packed.
BETA BLUE PIGMENT 15.3 & 15.4
• Solvent Pigmentation: The milled powder is treated

CPC Blue (98.5%): 1020 kgs

Salt: 150 kgs BALL MILLING

Water: 5000 kgs

Xylene: 3000 kgs Solvent recovered: 2940 kgs
Emulsifier : 25 Kgs PIGMENTATION
Additives : 25 Kgs Solvent loss: 60 kgs
Caustic : 50 kgs

FILTERATION
Water : 25000 kgs Effluent to ETP: 28470 kgs
& WASHING

SPIN FLASH Water Evaporation loss: 1800 kgs

DRYER

PRODUCT : BETA BLUE: 1000 kgs

Figure 5.Process Flow Diagram of Beta Blue Pigment

Figure 6.Hazardous Waste Management during Manufacturing of CPC Blue

There is no chemical reaction taking place, only rearrangement of molecules of Phthalocyanine Blue and Beta Blue are
formed which is stable and has greener blue tone.
 Rathoure AK et al.
23 J. Durg. Dis. Dev. 2018; 2(1)

(CuC32H16N8)
Figure 7.Chemical Reaction of Copper Phthalocyanine Beta Blue Pigment

Figure 8.Conversion of Organic Pigments

Conclusion
The CPC green and blue pigments are used widely in
textile units to color the yarn and used in printing. The
CPC pigments are broad-spectrum organic pigments. Beta
Blue is of a more stable crystal formulation than Alpha Blue
and is available as the non-crystallizing type and the non-
crystallizing non-flocculating type. During manufacturing
of organic pigments, major issue is hazardous water; it
should be properly handled. The life cycle analysis should
be done before use of organic pigments.
Conflict of Interest: None
References
1. Sandor S, Prelipceanu O, Checiu I. Sulphonated
phthalocyanine induced caudal malformative syndrome
in the chick embryo. Morphol Embryol (Bucur) 1985;
31(3): 173-81.
2. OECD SIDS. Copper Phthalocyanine. CAS N°:147-14-
8. 1990. Available online at http://www.inchem.org/
documents/sids/sids/147148.pdf.
3. Rathoure AK, Aggarwal SG. Manufacturing process
with chemical reactions and mass balance for 6
pharmaceutical drugs. J Durg Dis Dev 2017; 1(1): 54-64.
Date of Submission: 2018-04-02
Date of Acceptance: 2018-04-16