CHRIST JUNIOR COLLEGE

GREEN CHEMISTRY

2012

[TYPE

THE COMPANY ADDRESS]

DEFINITION
Green Chemistry is the utilisation of a set of principles that reduces or eliminates
the use or generation of hazardous substances in the design, manufacture and
application of chemical products .

GREEN CHEMISTRY IS ABOUT

Waste Minimisation at Source
Use of Catalysts in place of Reagents
Using Non-Toxic Reagents
Use of Renewable Resources
Improved Atom Efficiency
Use of Solvent Free or Recyclable Environmentally Benign Solvent
systems

Why do we need Green Chemistry?

Chemistry is undeniably a very prominent part of our daily lives.
Chemical developments also bring new environmental problems and
harmful unexpected side effects, which result in the need for greener
chemical products.
A famous example is the pesticide DDT.
Green chemistry looks at pollution prevention on the molecular scale and
is an extremely important area of Chemistry due to the importance of
Chemistry in our world today and the implications it can show on our
environment.

 The Green Chemistry program supports the invention of more

environmentally friendly chemical processes which reduce or even
eliminate the generation of hazardous substances.
This program works very closely with the twelve principles of Green
Chemistry.

The 12 Principles of Green Chemistry

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 maximise the incorporation of all materials
used in the process into the final product.

3. Less Hazardous Chemical Synthesis

Wherever practicable, synthetic methods should be designed to use and generate
substances that possess little or no toxicity to people or the environment.

4. Designing Safer Chemicals

Chemical products should be designed to effect their desired function while minimising
their toxicity.

5. Safer Solvents and Auxiliaries

The use of auxiliary substances (e.g., solvents or separation agents) should be made
unnecessary whenever possible and innocuous when used.

6. Design for Energy Efficiency

Energy requirements of chemical processes should be recognised for their environmental
and economic impacts and should be minimised. 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/de-protection, and temporary modification of
physical/chemical processes) should be minimised 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 Eucts 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 minimise the
potential for chemical accidents, including releases, explosions, and fires.

SOME EXAMPLES OF GREEN CHEMISTRY:

New syntheses of Ibuprofen and Zoloft.
Integrated circuit production.
Removing Arsenic and Chromate from pressure treated wood.
Many new pesticides.
New oxidants for bleaching paper and disinfecting water.

 Getting the lead out of automobile paints.

Recyclable carpeting.
Biodegradable polymers from renewable resources.

GREEN CHEMISTRY WORKS TOWARD SUSTAINABILITY BY:

Making chemical produc

products
ts that do not harm either our health or the environment,
Using industrial processes that reduce or eliminate hazardous chemicals, and
Designing more efficient processes that minimize the production of waste materials.

SYNTHESISOF IBUPROFEN:
Ibuprofen is a popular over-the-counter drug that has pain relief and anti-inflammatory
properties. It was originally developed in the 1960s by the Boots Company of England. The
Boots synthesis of Ibuprofen involved a six-step process that generated millions of pounds
of unwanted waste This became known as the Brown process due to reactants of the
process not being incorporated into the product because of poor atom utilization. The
solution to this problem was developed by the BHC Company in 1991. They implemented
the green synthesis of Ibuprofen, which only required three steps. This process also
incorporated most of the reactants into the final product, reducing or eliminating most of the
waste by-products. The switch from the Boots process to the BHC process has resulted in a
more efficient creation of Ibuprofen.

Boots Method (Brown)

The making of Ibuprofen begins with the compound Isobutyl benzene.

Step1: A Friedel-Crafts acylation that uses the catalyst aluminum-chloride that generates aluminum
trichloride hydrate as waste by-product.
Step 2: a Darzens reaction with ethyl -chloroacetate that results in an epoxy ester compound.
Step 3: involves decarboxylation and hydrolyzation forming an aldehyde.
Step 4: a reaction with hydroxylamine giving an oxime.
Step 5: the oxime is converted to a nitrile.
Step 6: Hydrolyzation of the nitrile resulting in the final product 2, 4-isobutylphenyl-propanoi acid.
This process has a 40% atom economy which translates into 60% waste products. This means
that if 30 million pounds of Ibuprofen is produced each year, then more than 35 million pounds of
waste is generated.

BHC Method (Green)

The green synthesis of Ibuprofen also begins with the compound isobutyl benzene.
Step 1: a Friedel-Crafts acylation using hydrogen fluoride as the catalyst that can be recovered and reused.
Step 2: involves hydrogenation with Raney nickel, which is recovered and reused, to produce an alcohol.
Step 3: the alcohol undergoes carbonylation with the catalyst, palladium, also recovered and reused, to
produce Ibuprofen or 2, 4-isobutyl-phenylpropanoic acid.
This process has a 99% atom economy, includes the recovered acetic acid that was generated in Step
1.This means that only 1% is waste by-products which Translated to less than 500,000 pounds of waste for
the production of 30 million pounds of Ibuprofen.

Ibuprofen is the leading active ingredient in brand name drugs such as Motrin and Advil. When first
developed by the Boots Company, the process generated millions of pounds of waste that was costly to
dispose and posed hazardous risks to the environment. The greening of Ibuprofen production by the BHC
Company has significantly
gnificantly reduced this waste and the hazards making it environmentally friendly. This
innovation earnedd the Presidential Green Chemistry Award in 1997.

GREEN CHEMISTRY NOT A SOLUTION TO ALL

ENVIRONMENTAL PROBLEMS BUT THE MOST
FUNDAMENTAL APPROACH TO PREVENTING
POLLUTION

Poly lactic acid (PLA) for plastics production

THANK YOU