What was the adjusted EBITDA for Atotech in Q2 2021 
the rest of the year, you will see the effect of the recovery from Q2 2020 trough as well as the tempering of those very high growth rates as we move into the second half. In the second quarter, we experienced organic growth of 9% for our electronics chemistry. This is a strong result for a second quarter, in particular when you consider that by Q2 last year China had already begun to recover from the pandemic. Thus, the demand we experienced is primarily driven by secular trends in which we continue to participate, especially 5G and millimeter wave as well as advanced semiconductor packaging.
Some of these growth drivers were stronger than expected in Q2, and we believe they will support us well into the future. For example, we had previously expected that the work-from-home trends would start to abate in the second quarter of 2021, but the arrival of the Delta variant of COVID-19 meant that work from home-driven computer demand continues to be strong, particularly in Asia. In addition, the never-ending search for more server capacity and greater data volumes continue to drive computer demand and, therefore, our customers' demand for our products. Now as Peter will review later, the record order level for electronics equipment we saw in the first quarter of 2021 translated into very high levels of equipment revenue.
And as always, these equipment sales are supportive of sustainable future chemistry revenues. In quarter 2 last year, our General Metal Finishing segment experienced a deep trough in demand as a result of the pandemic, the rebound from which is clearly visible in the 59% organic revenue growth in chemistry. Although auto production worldwide remains below typical trends due to the well-known semiconductor shortages, our strong presence in China and differentiated offering helped us to grow ahead of the overall market. Our strong revenue growth, coupled with the operating leverage inherent in our business model, provided us with a 63% increase in adjusted EBITDA to a record result of $118 million.
We generated adjusted free cash flow from operations of $86 million, returning to a very strong conversion rate from adjusted EBITDA. As a result, we ended the quarter with net leverage of 3.2 times EBITDA, so we are well on track toward our targeted capital structure. In this past quarter, we experienced a surge in demand for our sustainability-related products in both GMF and the Electronics segments. Atotech is uniquely well positioned to meet this demand, given of our decades of focus and investment on sustainable plating solutions.
For example, our Covertron pretreatment process for decorative plating is currently now up and running with two customers and in qualification with a further 15 customers. Our revolutionary patent-pending Fumalock solution is the world's first PFAS-free mist suppressant and, with it, we are in a unique position to help redefine the environmental footprint of the plating industry. I'd like to close with an update on our digitalization activities. The addition of software to our integrated offering is a further differentiator, and I'm very pleased to announce that we have signed our first contract with a high-end industry partner to implement an innovative combination of IIOT solutions and hardware optimization which will enable our customer to reduce overall energy consumption and meet their climate-related goals.
Although today, the percentage of revenues from our sustainability products is relatively small, Atotech is a leader with a broad portfolio of products offering tangible benefits to our customers in terms of reducing the environmental footprint of their activities. Now before I hand the presentation over to Peter, I'd be remiss if I didn't mention the acquisition agreement with MKS Instruments. As of July 1, the board of Atotech reached an agreement to join with MKS for a total equity value of $5.1 billion. MKS is the global leader of -- is a global leader of instruments, systems and process control solutions that measure, monitor, power and control critical parameters of ad
the rest of the year, you will see the effect of the recovery from Q2 2020 trough as well as the tempering of those very high growth rates as we move into the second half. In the second quarter, we experienced organic growth of 9% for our electronics chemistry. This is a strong result for a second quarter, in particular when you consider that by Q2 last year China had already begun to recover from the pandemic. Thus, the demand we experienced is primarily driven by secular trends in which we continue to participate, especially 5G and millimeter wave as well as advanced semiconductor packaging.
Some of these growth drivers were stronger than expected in Q2, and we believe they will support us well into the future. For example, we had previously expected that the work-from-home trends would start to abate in the second quarter of 2021, but the arrival of the Delta variant of COVID-19 meant that work from home-driven computer demand continues to be strong, particularly in Asia. In addition, the never-ending search for more server capacity and greater data volumes continue to drive computer demand and, therefore, our customers' demand for our products. Now as Peter will review later, the record order level for electronics equipment we saw in the first quarter of 2021 translated into very high levels of equipment revenue.
And as always, these equipment sales are supportive of sustainable future chemistry revenues. In quarter 2 last year, our General Metal Finishing segment experienced a deep trough in demand as a result of the pandemic, the rebound from which is clearly visible in the 59% organic revenue growth in chemistry. Although auto production worldwide remains below typical trends due to the well-known semiconductor shortages, our strong presence in China and differentiated offering helped us to grow ahead of the overall market. Our strong revenue growth, coupled with the operating leverage inherent in our business model, provided us with a 63% increase in adjusted EBITDA to a record result of $118 million.
We generated adjusted free cash flow from operations of $86 million, returning to a very strong conversion rate from adjusted EBITDA. As a result, we ended the quarter with net leverage of 3.2 times EBITDA, so we are well on track toward our targeted capital structure. In this past quarter, we experienced a surge in demand for our sustainability-related products in both GMF and the Electronics segments. Atotech is uniquely well positioned to meet this demand, given of our decades of focus and investment on sustainable plating solutions.
 For example, our Covertron pretreatment process for decorative plating is currently now up and running with two customers and in qualification with a further 15 customers. Our revolutionary patent-pending Fumalock solution is the world's first PFAS-free mist suppressant and, with it, we are in a unique position to help redefine the environmental footprint of the plating industry. I'd like to close with an update on our digitalization activities. The addition of software to our integrated offering is a further differentiator, and I'm very pleased to announce that we have signed our first contract with a high-end industry partner to implement an innovative combination of IIOT solutions and hardware optimization which will enable our customer to reduce overall energy consumption and meet their climate-related goals.
Although today, the percentage of revenues from our sustainability products is relatively small, Atotech is a leader with a broad portfolio of products offering tangible benefits to our customers in terms of reducing the environmental footprint of their activities. Now before I hand the presentation over to Peter, I'd be remiss if I didn't mention the acquisition agreement with MKS Instruments. As of July 1, the board of Atotech reached an agreement to join with MKS for a total equity value of $5.1 billion. MKS is the global leader of -- is a global leader of instruments, systems and process control solutions that measure, monitor, power and control critical parameters of ad