Course objectives: to provide an overview of the principles of green chemistry, and a description of the different approaches adopted by the chemists to decrease the environmental impact of the chemical transformations. A special emphasis will be dedicated to the advanced methods of modern chemistry used in synthesis but also to the different approaches used for optimizing the efficiency of chemical transformations (activation methods, energy saving…).
1) Green Chemistry: a New-Yet-Old concept (Pioneering industrial concepts, new regulations, principles of green
chemistry and green chemical engineering
2) New tools for assessing the greenness of a chemical transformation: metrics, Life Cycle Analysis,
Toxicity/ecotoxicity…
3) Different approaches for limiting the environmental impact of chemical transformations:
- strong emphasis on Catalysis (heterogeneous catalysis, phase transfer catalysis, homogeneous trasnition metal catalysis, biocatalysis,
organocatalysis….);
- New solvents/reagents (reactions in water, ionic liquids, supercritical CO2 , fluorinated
solvents, new reagents…)
- New methods of activation (Microwaves, Ultrasounds, High Pressure and Photochemical
activations …. ).
All the classes will consist of seminars and practical examples will be discussed with the students.