Green chemistry: the emergence of a transformative framework

Abstract

Since the Twelve Principles of Green Chemistry were formulated in the 1990s, there have been tremendous successes in developing new products and processes to be more compatible with human health, the environment, and sustainability goals. This review gives a sampling of research successes from the last 20 years, including advances in synthetic efficiency, application of alternative synthetic methods, use of less hazardous solvents and reagents, and development of renewable resources for chemical feedstocks. The future of green chemistry will depend on innovations that consolidate and integrate these achievements that have been made, using all Twelve Principles as a framework for intentional design. Designing for sustainability and reduced hazard should not be viewed as constraining, but rather as providing the freedom to explore and invent, bridging continents and scientific disciplines to create new solutions.

Preparation of Inorganic Materials Using Ionic Liquids

“…[101][102][103][104][105] Since thiols and disulfides can interact strongly with metal surfaces and form self-assembled monolayers [106][107][108] and many conventional capping agents for stabilizing metal nanoparticles contain sulfur, [109][110][111][112] one idea would be to employ sulfur-containing ionic liquids for the stabilization of metal nanoparticles. Hence, Itoh et al used 3,3 0 -[disulfanylbis(hexane-1,6-diyl)]-bis(1-methyl-1H-imidazol-3-ium)dichloride (entry 1 in Table 1) for the preparation of water-soluble Au nanoparticles (5 nm) via reducing HAuCl 4 with NaBH 4 in the presence of that ionic liquid. [113] The capped Au nanoparticles could be subsequently transferred from water into an ionic liquid phase via anion exchange by adding HPF 6 .…”

“…Therefore, alternative solvents or media with tunable and versatile solvation properties for conducting chemical reactions and materials synthesis have been actively sought. [4] Ionic liquids can be regarded as a family of molten salts that are different from conventional molten salts; ionic liquids usually have melting points below 100 8C, sometimes even below room temperature. [5] Compared with traditional solvents, ionic liquids offer many distinct advantages (such as negligible vapor pressures, good thermal stability, high ionic conductivity, broad electrochemical potential windows, and high synthetic flexibility) as solvents for a wide variety of inorganic and organic chemicals.…”

Plastics, the environment and human health: current consensus and future trends

“…This is the goal of the new field of green chemistry, which is based on the premise that development of chemicals for use in commerce should involve an interaction between biologists and chemists. Had this approach been in place 50 years ago it would probably have prevented the development of chemicals that are recognized as likely endocrine disruptors (Anastas & Beach 2007). There is also a need for industry and independent scientists to work more closely with, rather than against, each other in order to focus effectively on the best ways forward.…”

Microwave-assisted synthesis of nitrogen-containing heterocycles

“…Green or sustainable chemistry has now become a subject of intensive research [10][11][12][13]. The concept of ''green chemistry'' emerged in the early 1990s [12] and is now widely adopted to meet the fundamental scientific challenges to protect the human health and environment while simultaneously achieving commercial viability [3,14].…”

“…The concept of ''green chemistry'' emerged in the early 1990s [12] and is now widely adopted to meet the fundamental scientific challenges to protect the human health and environment while simultaneously achieving commercial viability [3,14]. Nonclassical methods following the principles of green chemistry [9] reduce or even eliminate the generation of hazardous substances [12][13][14][15] as well as eliminate the use of conventional volatile organic solvents. There have been tremendous successes in the synthesis of numerous numbers of heterocyclic compounds and in the development of new processes under clean, environmentally benign methodologies that are sustainable for the long term.…”