Green Chemistry Compass_

What is ​‘Green Chemistry’?

Green che­mistry is the design of che­mi­cal pro­ducts and pro­ces­ses that redu­ce or eli­mi­na­te the use or gene­ra­tion of hazar­dous subs­tan­ces. Green che­mistry applies across the life cycle of a che­mi­cal pro­duct, inclu­ding its design, manu­fac­tu­re, use, and ulti­ma­te dis­po­sal. Green chemistry:

• Pre­vents pollu­tion at the mole­cu­lar level

• Is a phi­lo­sophy that applies to all areas of che­mistry, not a sin­gle dis­ci­pli­ne of chemistry

• Applies inno­va­ti­ve scien­ti­fic solu­tions to real-world envi­ron­men­tal problems

• Results in sour­ce reduc­tion becau­se it pre­vents the gene­ra­tion of pollution

• Redu­ces the nega­ti­ve impacts of che­mi­cal pro­ducts and pro­ces­ses on human health and the environment

• Les­sens and some­ti­mes eli­mi­na­tes hazard from exis­ting pro­ducts and processes

• Designs che­mi­cal pro­ducts and pro­ces­ses to redu­ce their intrin­sic hazards

The­re are 12 Prin­ci­ples of Green Chemistry:

1. Pre­vent was­te: Design che­mi­cal synthe­ses to pre­vent was­te. Lea­ve no was­te to treat or clean up.

2. Maxi­mi­ze atom eco­nomy: Design synthe­ses so that the final pro­duct con­tains the maxi­mum pro­por­tion of the star­ting mate­rials. Was­te few or no atoms.

3. Design less hazar­dous che­mi­cal synthe­ses: Design synthe­ses to use and gene­ra­te subs­tan­ces with little or no toxi­city to either humans or the environment.

4. Design safer che­mi­cals and pro­ducts: Design che­mi­cal pro­ducts that are fully effec­ti­ve yet have little or no toxicity.

5. Use safer sol­vents and reac­tion con­di­tions: Avoid using sol­vents, sepa­ra­tion agents, or other auxi­liary che­mi­cals. If you must use the­se che­mi­cals, use safer ones.

6. Increa­se energy effi­ciency: Run che­mi­cal reac­tions at room tem­pe­ra­tu­re and pres­su­re whe­ne­ver possible.

7. Use rene­wa­ble feeds­tocks: Use star­ting mate­rials (also known as feeds­tocks) that are rene­wa­ble rather than deple­ta­ble. The sour­ce of rene­wa­ble feeds­tocks is often agri­cul­tu­ral pro­ducts or the was­tes of other pro­ces­ses; the sour­ce of deple­ta­ble feeds­tocks is often fos­sil fuels (petro­leum, natu­ral gas, or coal) or mining operations.

8. Avoid che­mi­cal deri­va­ti­ves: Avoid using bloc­king or pro­tec­ting groups or any tem­po­rary modi­fi­ca­tions if pos­si­ble. Deri­va­ti­ves use addi­tio­nal reagents and gene­ra­te waste.

9. Use catalysts, not stoi­chio­me­tric reagents: Mini­mi­ze was­te by using cataly­tic reac­tions. Catalysts are effec­ti­ve in small amounts and can carry out a sin­gle reac­tion many times. They are pre­fe­ra­ble to stoi­chio­me­tric reagents, which are used in excess and carry out a reac­tion only once.

10. Design che­mi­cals and pro­ducts to degra­de after use: Design che­mi­cal pro­ducts to break down to inno­cuous subs­tan­ces after use so that they do not accu­mu­la­te in the environment.

11. Analy­ze in real time to pre­vent pollu­tion: Inclu­de in-pro­cess, real-time moni­to­ring and con­trol during synthe­ses to mini­mi­ze or eli­mi­na­te the for­ma­tion of byproducts.

12. Mini­mi­ze the poten­tial for acci­dents: Design che­mi­cals and their phy­si­cal forms (solid, liquid, or gas) to mini­mi­ze the poten­tial for che­mi­cal acci­dents inclu­ding explo­sions, fires, and relea­ses to the environment.

Whi­le all 12 Prin­ci­ples have appli­ca­tions to the fla­vors and fra­gran­ces industry, this Com­pass focu­ses on the most com­mon ones used: Prin­ci­ples 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 9, 10 and 12. The­se also align with the IFRA-IOFI Sus­tai­na­bi­lity Pillars and the UN Glo­bal Sus­tai­na­ble Deve­lop­ment Goals.