Green Chemistry

Teacher Resources

Standards that are met by the completion of this unit satisfy the objectives and standards of the State of Georgia as follows:

S8P1 Students will examine the scientific view of the nature of matter.

S8P1

• a. Distinguish between atoms and molecules.
• b. Describe the difference between pure substances (elements and compounds) and mixtures.
• f. Recognize that there are more than 100 elements and some have similar properties as shown on
• g. Identify and demonstrate the Law of Conservation of Matter.

Twelve Principles of Green Chemistry

1. It is better to prevent waste that to treat or clean up waste after it is formed.
2. Synthetic methods should be designed to maximize the incorporation of all materials used in the process into the final product.
3. 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. Chemical products should be designed to preserve efficacy of function while reducing toxicity.
5. The use of auxiliary substances (e.g. solvents, separation agents, etc.) Should be made unnecessary wherever possible and, innocuous when used.
6. Energy requirements should be recognized for their environmental and economic impacts and should be minimized. Synthetic methods should be conducted at ambient temperature and pressure.
7. A raw material of feedstock should be renewable rather than depleting wherever technically and economically practicable.
8. Reduce derivatives - Unnecessary derivatization (blocking group, protection/deprotection, temporary modification) should be avoided whenever possible.
9. Catalytic reagents (as selective as possible) are superior to stoichiometric reagents.
10. 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. 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. Substances and the form of a substance used in a chemical process should be chosen to minimize potential for chemical accidents, including releases, explosions, and fires. ¹⁸

From this list of principles emerge five main foci:

1. less,
2. safe,
3. process-oriented,
4. waste-reducing,
5. sustainable.

These key words can then be grouped around this simpler form of:

1. uses fewer chemicals, solvents, and energy
2. has safe raw material, processes, and solvents
3. process should be efficient, without waste, without derivatization, and should use catalysts
4. waste generated should be monitored in real time and should degrade
5. all chemicals, raw materials, solvents, and energy should be renewable or sustainable.

History Project: MSN Encarta. Britannica online, ACS (American Chemical Society) website This is only a short list as there are plenty of sources for students to use to compile their research for the history project.

Students should be taught about balancing equations and the conservation of mass. Use explorelearning.com to have students try balancing several equations (if your school does not have a license for this you can obtain a 30 day trial period to complete the chemistry activities). There are other resources for chemistry also available at that site.

The following site is for propene manufacturing and ibuprofen with lab and questions.

http://www.greeningschools.org/docs/WasteandTinkerToysAtomEconomy.pdf

The following is a list of sites that can be adapted for instructional use in completing the various parts of the lesson. Some are better for lecture as some are more directed for student exploration:

http://www-users.york.ac.uk/~chem56/index.htm

http://www.greenchemex.org/about?content_id=110

http://portal.acs.org/portal/acs/corg/content?_nfpb=true&_pageLabel=PP_SUPERARTICLE&node_id=1444&use_sec=false&sec_url_var=region1

http://www.rsc.org/chemsoc/gcn/index.htm

http://www.carolina.com/category/teacher+resources/green+chemistry/introduction+to+green+chemistry.do

http://www.chem.ufl.edu/~itl/2045/lectures/lec_3.html

http://academic.uofs.edu/faculty/cannm1/organicmodule.html

http://www.creative-chemistry.org.uk/

http://chemistry.about.com/cs/howtos/a/aa052703a.htm