Green Chemistry

Green Chemistry:

Green chemistry is often defined as the design of chemical products and processes that reduce or eliminate the use and generation of hazardous substances. Green chemistry addresses the need to produce the goods and services on which society depends in a more environmentally benign manner. The focus of green chemistry is on pollution prevention, rather than treatment and disposal of hazardous waste after it has been generated. The implementation of green chemistry technologies has eliminated waste, improved safety, and saved industry money. This presentation will introduce the principles of green chemistry, provide academic and industrial examples of greener technologies, and highlight the economic benefits of adopting environmentally friendly processes. (Dr. Kirchhoff's abstract)

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It's Actually Easy Being Green!

12 Principles of Green Chemistry
(Anastas, P. T.; Warner, J. C. Green Chemistry: Theory and Practice, Oxford University Press: New York, 1998, p.30. By permission of Oxford University Press)

1.	Prevention It is better to prevent waste than to treat or clean up waste after it has been created.
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 Syntheses Wherever practicable, synthetic methods 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 effect their desired function while minimizing their toxicity.
5.	Safer Solvents and Auxiliaries The use of auxiliary substances (e.g., solvents, separation agents, etc.) should be made unnecessary wherever possible and innocuous when used.
6.	Design for Energy Efficiency Energy requirements of chemical processes should be recognized for their environmental and economic impacts and should be minimized. If possible, synthetic methods should be conducted at ambient temperature and pressure.
7.	Use of Renewable Feedstocks A raw material or feedstock should be renewable rather than depleting whenever technically and economically practicable.
8.	Reduce Derivatives Unnecessary derivatization (use of blocking groups, protection/ deprotection, temporary modification of physical/chemical processes) should be minimized or avoided if possible, because such steps require additional reagents and can generate waste.
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 break down into innocuous degradation products and do not persist in the environment.
11.	Real-time analysis for Pollution Prevention Analytical methodologies need to be further developed to allow for real-time, in-process monitoring and control prior to the formation of hazardous substances.
12.	Inherently Safer Chemistry for Accident Prevention Substances and the form of a substance used in a chemical process should be chosen to minimize the potential for chemical accidents, including releases, explosions, and fires.

What ACS-SA @ U of M Has Done to Promote Green Chemistry:

In Fall of 2006, U of M ACS-SA hosted a green chemistry lecture presented by Dr. Mary Kirchhoff, who is the Director for the Education Division of ACS and previously served as Assistant Director of the ACS Green Chemistry Institute.

In Winter of 2007, we held a meeting with Andrew Berki and Megan Lazar from OSEH (Occupational Safety & Environmental Health) to discuss Green Chemistry issues on campus.

Later, we held a Green Chemistry Awareness Day and encouraged students to sign a petition, stating that they will try to implement green chemistry techniques into their academic and professional lives. We plan to hold this event in upcoming years as well. We give out free candy, cookies and Green Chemistry tips, so look for us in the atrium in March!

We also developed a Green Chemistry newsletter in order to inform students and faculty about recent advancements in green chemistry research. We also wanted to notify them about ways in which they can use these advancements in their classes and research.

Download Green Chemistry News!

Fall 2007

Winter 2007

In Winter of 2008, we held our second annual Green Chemistry Awareness Day. We also joined other student groups to celebrate Earth Day.

We believe that undergraduate students need to learn about green chemistry techniques now in order to implement them into their future professional lives.

Want to know more? Check out these Websites!

Green Chemistry Innovations

The Official ACS Green Chemistry webpage

US Environment Protection Agency Green Chem Website

EPA's Green Chemistry Program promotes the research, development, and implementation of innovative chemical technologies that accomplish pollution prevention in a scientifically sound and cost-effective manner.

Green Chemistry journal

Publishing cutting-edge research that reduces the environmental impact of the chemical enterprise by developing alternative sustainable technologies.

Want to take charge of a Green Chemistry project with our student affiliates group?

Email Alex Miller, our Student Liaison: lexahmil@umich.edu

Or Join our Green Chemistry Facebook Group!

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