PASADENA, Texas - BASF will invest $60 million in its Pasadena, Texas, site, just a year after acquiring the site from Sunoco. The expansion plans include constructing a 125,000-ton-per-year esters facility, which will begin operations during the second half of 2006. Additionally, the company will convert an existing 2-ethyl hexanol (2-EH) production unit to produce 2-propyl heptanol (2-PH). These conversions are part of a planned transition from ethylene-based materials to butene-fed 2-PH that will be the basis for BASF's newest plasticizer, di-propyl heptanol phthalate (DPHP).