Green Chemistry and its Role for

Sustainability
As
A branched topic of the UNESCO conference
on ESD
Bonn, Germany, 2009

Presenter: Dr. Zeinab Shaaban Abu-Elnaga

Faculty of Science
Mansoura University
Egypt
2009
zenab_77@mans.edu.eg
 Learning 0bjectives
To conceptualize the sustainability and ESD

To understand how to apply this concept in our research

fields of interest aiming to safe our plant

To think prospectively about how to change our

education subjects to be sustainable learning tools by
Investigating examples of green chemistry applications
relevant to students

To understand the important role of the green chemistry

and how to deal with it in our practical life

The topic is very vast but I have tried to cover it in one

lecture and I will give the links for more details of each
sub-topic 2009
zenab_77@mans.edu.eg
Performance Objectives:

To understand the importance of Green chemistry for

sustainability

To design and interpret greener route to the traditional

chemical reactions

To learn how to teach green chemistry as a lab course

2009
zenab_77@mans.edu.eg
 Sustainability
• Meeting the needs of the present generation without
compromising the needs of future generations
Is the goal

• Green chemistry: technologies of the invention, design

and application of chemical products and processes to
reduce or to eliminate the use and generation of
hazardous substances ,and where possible utilize
renewable raw materials
is the means

Primary pollution prevention not remediation

Use of chemistry for improved environmental performance

zenab_77@mans.edu.eg
As human beings --- we are part of the environment
The way in which we interact with our environment influences
the quality of our lives

Sustainable
development Industrial
the goal ecology

Green
Chemistry
A tool

Green chemistry, lies at the heart of the industrial ecology

2009
zenab_77@mans.edu.eg
Green chemistry, is called also Benign chemistry or clean
chemistry for sustainability

• Refers to the field of chemistry dealing with

1- Synthesis (the path to making chemicals)

2- Processing (the actual making of chemicals)

3- Use of chemicals that reduce risks to humans and

impact on the environment

Green chemistry education: A key to sustain the

development of new educational materials
Green Chemistry Is About...

Waste

Materials
Hazard

Risk

Energy

Cost

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Principles of Green Chemistry
Prevent waste.

Design safer chemicals and products.

Design less hazardous chemical syntheses.

Use renewable feed stocks.

Use catalysts, not stoichiometric reagents: Catalysts are used in small amounts and
can carry out a single reaction many times. They are preferable to stoichiometric
reagents, which are used in excess and work only once.

Avoid chemical derivatives: Avoid using blocking or protecting groups or any

temporary modifications if possible. generate waste.

Maximize atom economy.

Use safer solvents and reaction conditions

Increase energy efficiency.

Design chemicals and products to degrade after use.

Analyze in real time to prevent pollution.

Minimize the potential for accidents.

Originally published by Paul Anastas and John Warner in Green Chemistry: Theory
and Practice (Oxford University Press: New York, 1998).
2009
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Now, how can we deal with green chemistry
at our practical life
Just we need to change our mind set
and applying the concept in

Classrooms

laboratory

manufacture

And finally the surrounding

environment
• If the chemical reaction of the type

• A+B P+W

• Find alternate A or B to avoid W

• Example 1:

• Disinfection of water by chlorination. Chlorine

oxidizes the pathogens there by killing them,
but at the same time forms harmful chlorinated
compounds.

• A remedy is to use another oxidant, such as

O3 or supercritical water oxidation

2009
zenab_77@mans.edu.eg
 Example 2 of green chemistry

• Production of allyl alcohol CH2=CHCH2OH

• Traditional route: Alkaline hydrolysis of allyl chloride, which

generates the product and hydrochloric acid as a by-product

CH2=CHCH2Cl + H2O CH2=CHCH2OH + HCl

problem product

• Greener route, to avoid chlorine: Two-step using propylene

(CH2=CHCH3), acetic acid (CH3COOH) and oxygen (O2)
CH2=CHCH3 + CH3COOH + 1/2 O2 CH2=CHCH2OCOCH3 + H2O

CH2=CHCH2OCOCH3 + H2O CH2=CHCH2OH + CH3COOH

• Added benefit: The acetic acid produced in the 2nd reaction

can be recovered and used again for the 1st reaction, leaving
2009
no unwanted by-product. zenab_77@mans.edu.eg
 Example 3 of green chemistry
• Production of styrene (=benzene ring with CH=CH2 tail)

• Traditional route: Two-step method starting with benzene,

which is carcinogenic) and ethylene to form ethylbenzene,
followed by dehydrogenation to obtain styrene
CH2CH3
catayst
+ H2C=CH2

ethylbenzene
CH2-CH3 CH=CH2
catayst

styrene
ethylbenzene

• Greener route: To avoid benzene, start with xylene (cheapest

source of aromatics and environmentally safer than benzene).

• Another option, still under development, is to start with

toluene (benzene ring with CH3 tail). 2009
zenab_77@mans.edu.eg
Green chemistry education
Chemistry students need to be encouraged to
consider the principles of green chemistry when
designing processes and choosing reagents

Interactive Teaching Units (ITU) have been

developed specifically to introduce undergraduate
students to green chemistry

There are numerous scholarships and grants

available for researchers and young scholars who
are furthering the goals of green chemistry
2009
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conclusion
Green Chemistry:
Preventing Pollution
Sustaining the Earth

Green chemistry has come a long way since its birth in 1991,
growing from a small grassroots idea into a new approach to
scientifically-based environmental protection
All over the world, governments and industries are working
with “green” chemists to transform the economy into a
sustainable enterprise
Who knows? Green chemistry may be the next social
movement that will set aside all the world’s differences and
allow for the creation of an environmentally commendable
civilization 2009
zenab_77@mans.edu.eg
 References
http://www.epa.gov/greenchemistry/

http://www.epa.gov/greenchemistry/pubs/educat.html

http://www.epa.gov/greenchemistry/

http://www.epa.gov/greenchemistry/pubs/principles.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Green_chemistry

http://portal.acs.org/portal/acs/corg/content?_nfpb=true&_pageLabel=PP_TRANSITIO
NMAIN&node_id=830&use_sec=false&sec_url_var=region1&__uuid=76247a16-94d0-
458e-9092-10de1c35f2c6

http://books.google.com/books?id=ZMjkTMwO3NkC&dq=green+chemistry&printsec=fr
ontcover&source=bl&ots=ZdGD63CxOJ&sig=vM94PxekSEhIX3a9yFOPpDAOXGo&hl=
en&ei=mD9RSqSoDqDMjAfJg4mfBQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=8

http://books.google.com/books?id=ZMjkTMwO3NkC&dq=green+chemistry&printsec=fr
ontcover&source=bl&ots=ZdGD63CxOJ&sig=vM94PxekSEhIX3a9yFOPpDAOXGo&hl=
en&ei=mD9RSqSoDqDMjAfJg4mfBQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=8

2009
zenab_77@mans.edu.eg