Applications
Virtually the entire world's supply of terephthalic acid and dimethyl terephthalate are consumed as precursors to polyethylene terephthalate (PET). World production in 1970 was around 1.75 million tonnes. By 2006, global purified terephthalic acid (PTA) demand had exceeded 30 million tonnes.
There is a smaller, but nevertheless significant, demand for terephthalic acid in the production of polybutylene terephthalate and several other engineering polymers.
In the research laboratory, terephthalic acid has been popularized as a component for the synthesis of metal-organic frameworks.
The analgesic drug oxycodone occasionally comes as a terephthalate salt; however, the more usual salt of oxycodone is the hydrochloride. Pharmacologically, one milligram of terephthalas oxycodonae is equivalent to 1.13 mg of hydrochloridum oxycodonae.
Terephthalic acid is used as a filler in some military smoke grenades, most notably the American M83 smoke grenade, producing a thick white smoke when burned.
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