Company tried desperately to produce explosive (7)
I believe the answer is:
cordite
'explosive' is the definition.
(I know that cordite is a type of explosive compound)
'company tried desperately' is the wordplay.
'company' becomes 'co' (abbreviation).
'desperately' indicates anagramming the letters.
'tried' with letters rearranged gives 'rdite'.
'co'+'rdite'='CORDITE'
'to produce' is the link.
(Other definitions for cordite that I've seen before include "Smokeless explosive used in bullets" , "Explosive propellant" , "Type of explosive" .)