Fengfan CAS 102-60-3 Q75 N N N' N'-Tetrakis 2-Hydroxypropyl Ethylenediamine For Electroless Copper Plating

Product Overview

Q75, our tetrakis(2-hydroxypropyl)ethylenediamine grade, is supplied as a 74.5–75.5% aqueous liquid. The molecule carries four hydroxypropyl arms on an ethylenediamine backbone — the shape that lets it wrap around a copper ion and hold it in solution in an alkaline bath. In the drum it is a clear, colorless to light yellow liquid; in the tank it is the component that decides how evenly copper reaches the board surface in a metal plating process. Molecular formula C14H32N2O4, molecular weight 294.42.

Board shops buy it as one ingredient of the bath used for electroless plating of copper, alongside the copper source, the reducing agent and the pH adjuster their formulation calls for. Nothing deposits until the bath is built and the operating window set, so this is a component rather than a ready-to-use solution. Compounding chemical companies buy it as a starting material for their own additive packages, and distributors hold drums for plants that mix on site — including electronic plating lines where the copper layer is the first conductive step. The rest of a plating line, from acid copper brighteners to nickel purifiers and anodizing chemicals, comes from the same supplier, which saves a plant from splitting a small chemical order across several vendors.

Because it is miscible with water in all proportions, it charges as a liquid and needs no dissolving step in electroless plating; drums, transfer lines and pumps rinse clean with water alone. Nothing has to be heated or pre-mixed before the drum goes to the tank.

Key Properties

Functions in the Copper Bath

The core job is chelation. Left to itself in an alkaline bath, copper would drop out as hydroxide within minutes; the four hydroxypropyl arms hold each copper ion in a soluble complex instead. Copper is released at the surface as it is consumed, so a steady supply reaches the hole wall rather than a concentration that swings between additions. That even supply is what keeps an electroless plating process consistent across a panel: uniform thickness from edge to centre, clean hole walls, and a bath that stays clear instead of building sludge.

A second effect is stability. Because the complex buffers free copper, the bath absorbs drag-in, make-up water and the ordinary variation of a working line without drifting far. Nothing about the metal plating process is fixed by this liquid on its own — the reducer, the temperature and the pH system are chosen in the formulation — but the complexing agent is what makes those choices repeatable from one batch to the next.

Then come the two quieter roles. As a fluxing component it keeps the copper surface chemically active, so the first layer bonds rather than sitting loosely on oxide or residue. As a cleaner it holds oils, drilling debris and handling soils in suspension so they leave with the rinse instead of being trapped under the deposit. On high-aspect-ratio work those two functions matter as much as the chelation: in electroless plating, a wall that wets properly is a wall that plates all the way through.

Applications on the Board

• Through-hole metallisation: the first conductive layer inside a drilled hole, deposited by electroless plating before electrolytic copper fills the barrel.
• Multilayer and double-sided rigid boards: every hole on the panel plates at once — the case where electroless plating of copper is judged on uniformity across the whole panel.
• HDI and microvia builds: small blind features are the first place an unbalanced bath shows voids or thin walls.
• Flexible and rigid-flex circuits: polyimide and adhesive layers need a cleaner that lifts residue without attacking the dielectric.
• Panel plating ahead of pattern plating: the electroless layer carries the current for the electrolytic step that follows in the plating process.
• Plated plastics and moulded parts: in electronic plating of a non-conductive moulding, the first copper layer goes down chemically rather than electrically.
• Captive lines and job shops: plants that build their own bath and shops that buy a compounded package, both using this grade as the complexing component.

Dilution and Bath Control

1. Record the lot before anything else: batch number and assay from the drum label, entered on the bath card. The window is 74.5–75.5%, so small lot-to-lot differences are normal and worth logging.
2. Take the charge figure from your own bath formulation. This liquid is one component of the make-up, not the whole of it.
3. Charge under stirring. Complete miscibility means it can be poured as supplied — no pre-dissolving and no hot water.
4. Set the working pH to your formulation's target and read it on a calibrated meter; the liquid itself sits between 8.0 and 12.0.
5. Rinse the drum and the transfer line into the bath with water so the last of the charge is not lost.
6. Keep the card current: charge weight, pH, temperature and date at make-up. When the plating process drifts, the card tells you whether the chemical or the line changed.
7. Working with an unusual make-up? Send us the formulation and we will go through the charge with you before the drum is opened.

Packing and Storage

• Standard pack: 25 kg/drum, the format this grade normally ships in.
• Storage: cool and dry, drum kept closed between draws.
• Segregation: keep it away from acids and oxidisers — it is an alkaline liquid and a leaking drum will react.
• Goods-in: check drum, cap and label against the delivery note, then record the batch number before the drum goes into the store, so it can be traced through the electroless plating process.
• Cold weather: let a cold drum come back to room temperature and stir before charging.
• Opened drums: reseal after use, keep the cap and bung clean, and draw with a clean pump or ladle to avoid contamination of the plating process.
• Spills: absorb the bulk, then rinse the area with water — full miscibility makes clean-up straightforward.

Ordering and Delivery

Technical Support & Model Matching

Choosing the right match is where most sourcing decisions stall. As a trading supplier, we keep one point of contact from first enquiry to after-sales: tell us what you are making and the conditions you work under, and we shortlist the closest matches from our supplier network, compare specifications and arrange samples before you commit to a bulk order. If something does not behave as expected, we work with the supplying partner on the cause and a practical fix, and stay with the case until it is settled. Email, WeChat or WhatsApp enquiries get a reply within 24 hours.

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