Green Chemistry In Chemistry Curriculum

GREEN CHEMISTRY IN CHEMISTRY CURRICULUM Sheela Tandon & P.K. Roy CDRI Lucknow India The late sixties and early seventies were times when the environment received a great deal of attention including the formation of the Environment Production Agency (EPA) and the celebration of the first Earth Day, both of which occurred in 1970. In the intervening years, several environmental laws have been passed. While these laws have accomplished a great deal in terms of improving our environment by controlling our exposure the hazardous substance, we still have a long way to go. In the last decade, a new paradigm has emerged at the EPA, ushered in, in part by the Pollution Prevention on Act of 1990. This is the first and only act that is focused on pollution prevention rather than the typical treatment and remediation. The EPA is attempting to collaborate with industry to find more flexible and cost effective ways of not only meeting existing regularizations but also preventing pollution of the source. In 1991 green chemistry because a formal focus of EPA. Green Chemistry or environmentally benign chemistry is the design of chemical products and processes that reduce and eliminate the use and generation of hazardous substances. Thus instead of limiting risk by controlling our exposure to hazardous chemicals, green chemistry attempts to reduce and preferentially eliminate the hazard thus negating the necessity to control Exposure. If we don’t use or produce hazardous substances then the Risk is zero, and we do not have to worry about the treatment of hazardous substance or limiting our, exposure to them. The fundamental idea of green chemistry is that the designer of a chemical is responsible for considering what will happen to the world after the agent is put in place. Green Chemistry has gained a strong foothold in both industry and academia. The Twelve Principles of Green Chemistry The design of environmentally benign products and processes may be guided by the 12 Principle of Green Chemistry. There principles are categorization of the fundamental approaches taken to achieve the green chemistry goals. 1. Prevention: It is better to prevent waste than to treat or clean up waste after it is formed. 2. Atom Economy: Synthetic methods should be designed to maximize the incorporation of all materials used in the process into the final product. 3. Less Hazardous Chemical Synthesis: 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. Designing Safer Chemicals: Chemical products should be designed to preserve efficacy of function while reducing toxicity. 5. Safer Solvents and Auxiliaries: The use of auxiliary substance (e.g, solvents, separation agents, etc.) should be made unnecessary whenever possible and, innocuous when used.

6. Design for Energy Efficiency: Energy requirements should be recognized for their environmental and economic impacts and should be minimized. Synthetic methods should be conduced at ambient temperature and pressure. 7. Use of Renewable Feedstocks: A raw materials feedstock should be renewable rather than depleting whenever technically and economically practical. 8. Reduce Derivatives: Unnecessary derivatization (block group, protection/deprotection, temporary modification of physical/chemical processes) should be avoided whenever possible. 9. Catalysis: Catalytic reagents (as selective as possible) are superior to stoichiometric reagents. 10. Design for Degradation: 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. Real time Analysis for Pollution Prevention: Analytical mythologies need to be further development to allow for real-time in-process monitoring and control prior to the formation of hazardous substances. 12. Inherently SaferChemistry for Accident Prevention: 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. Over the course of past decade, green chemistry has demonstrated how fundamental scientific methodologies can protect human health and the environment in an economically beneficial manner. Significant progress is being made, in several key research areas such as catalysis, design of safer chemicals and solvents and development of renewable feedstocks. Education in Green Chemistry Green chemistry represents the pillars that hold up our sustainable future. In the development of green chemistry it has been realized that the next generation of scientists need to be trained in the methodologies, techniques and principles that are central to green chemistry. When chemistry teachers teach their students about composition, outcomes, mechanism, controlling forces and economic values of the chemical processes, the attendant dangers of the same chemicals & processes to human health and to the ecosphere must be emphasized across all courses. Educations need appropriate tools, training and materials to effectively integrate green chemistry into their teaching and research. Important steps to be taken to inculcate green chemistry within the curriculum should include the following: - Systematic recognition of hazard/toxicity as a physical/chemical property of molecular structure that can be designed and manipulated. - Development and utilization of practical laboratory experiments to illustrate green chemistry principles. - Balanced equations in organic textbooks and replacement of “yield” with”atom economy”. - Introduction of the basic concepts of chemical toxicology and the molecular basis of hazard. - Incorporation of green chemistry topics in professional certification exams.

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Teacher reference materials for incorporating green chemistry into existing courses. - Incentives to students/ researchers for working on the projects of green chemistry. - Education of legislators on the benefits of green chemistry. - Green chemistry is re-thinking of the new ways to approach the chemical design. This rethinking process can be stimulated by effective communication of green chemistry, which includes: • Providing links to other organizations and government departments • Organizing conferences / workshops and training courses • Providing educational material for universities & schools • Newsletter and books with close links to the Green Chemistry journal • Providing prizes and awards for companies & university researchers • Running specific-themed projects targeting key area and groups Waste minimization, solvent selection, atom utilization, intensive processing and alternative synthetic routes from sustainable resources are some of the basic concepts involved in green chemistry. The challenge for chemists is to develop products, processes and services in a sustainable manner to improve quality of life, the natural environment and industry competitiveness. The most successful chemical companies of the future will be those who exploit its opportunities to their competitive advantage; and the most successful chemists of the future will be those who use Green Chemistry concepts in R&D, innovation and education. The Green Chemistry Network aims to help these chemical companies and chemists by sharing best practice, promoting green technology transfer and providing data to show that adoption of green practices can also provide cost benefits for industry. In addition, we aim to make it possible for chemists of the future to grow up in an environment where green issues are not taught in isolation but form the underlying principles of all courses. Courtesy: Indian Association of Chemistry Teachers, Newsletter of June 2008