On the reading wheel: Green Chemistry

Check out our reading wheel! The Chemistry | Biology | Pharmacy Information Center has now put the first books on display. Our first topic is Green Chemistry. Books are exhibited until Thursday, April 10. Starting Friday, April 11, we will present books on auxiliary skills.

Chemical processes often cause a negative impact on the environment. Green chemistry aims to introduce new methods and technologies to minimize the use and generation of hazardous substances and thus protect human health and the environment. 12 Principles of Green Chemistry are used as guidelines for the development and design of the environmentally benign products and processes:

The 12 principles of Green Chemistry

1. It is better to prevent waste than to treat or clean up waste after it is formed.
2. Synthetic methods should be designed to maximize the incorporation of all materials used in the process into the final product.
3. Wherever practicable, synthetic methodologies should be designed to use and generate substances that possess little or no toxicity to human health and the environment.
4. Chemical products should be designed to preserve efficacy of function while reducing toxicity.
5. The use of auxiliary substances (e.g., solvents, separation agents, and so forth) should be made unnecessary wherever possible and innocuous when used.
6. Energy requirements should be recognized for their environmental and economic impacts and should be minimized. Synthetic methods should be conducted at ambient temperature and pressure.
7. A raw material or feedstock should be renewable rather than depleting wherever technically and economically practicable.
8. Unnecessary derivatization (blocking group, protection/deprotection, temporary modification of physical/chemical processes) should be avoided whenever possible.
9. Catalytic reagents (as selective as possible) are superior to stoichiometric reagents.
10. Chemical products should be designed so that at the end of their function they do not persist in the environment and break down into innocuous degradation products.
11. Analytical methodologies need to be developed further to allow for real-time in-process monitoring and control before the formation of hazardous substances.
12. Substances and the form of a substance used in a chemical process should be chosen so as to minimize the potential for chemical accidents, including releases, explosions, and fires.

The 12 principles are published in Anastas, P. T.; Warner, J. C. Green Chemistry: Theory and Practice; Oxford University Press: New York, 1998; p. 30 – the book is available at the Chemistry | Biology | Pharmacy Information Center.