The
use of designer surfactants to facilitate chemical transformations
in water is a prime example for the knowledge transfer from academia
to industry. Accordingly, chemistry in aqueous media aided by surfactants
has emerged as a viable alternative to the use of organic solvents
as part of the effort to transform chemical manufacturing into a green
art. While classical metrics indicate tremendous savings on waste
generation, a more exhaustive analysis including the intrinsic carbon
footprint of such surfactants has never been conducted. The present
work addresses this topic and outlines this analysis as part of a
case study on the example of a widely known and applied working-horse
of surfactant chemistry, TPGS-750-M. Meanwhile, the fate of the employed
water is considered, and a holistic comparison to organic solvents
is drawn. The key for a streamlined assessment is the reflected use
of proper metrics, clearly pointing out a nonzero carbon footprint
of such chemistries in aqueous media, though the techniques range
at the greener end of the scale of reaction media.