Archive for February, 2012

Industrial commitment to green and sustainable chemistry: using renewable materials & developing eco-friendly processes and ingredients in cosmetics

Scientists from L’Oréal show how green chemistry principles have been integrated into the development of new processes and ingredients at the company, illustrating the company’s commitment to sustainable chemistry.

The group led by Michel Philippe based at the L’Oréal Research & Innovation centre in Aulnay-sous-Bois, France, provide detailed examples of how green chemistry principles have been used in the development of key processes such as C-glycosylation in water, and ceramide synthesis from renewable materials.  Philippe and colleagues also discuss a list of green indicators which have been set up to advance the eco-design of ingredients in the future.  These are:

  • An ‘atom economy’ calculation
  • The E-factor – with the aim of lowering this during scale-up and industrialisation
  • The level of renewable carbon in the final ingredient
  • The environmental risk of the final compound (according to European guidelines for PBT assessment)

This article will be free to access until the 23rd March 2012!  Click on the link below to find out more…

Industrial commitment to green and sustainable chemistry: using renewable materials & developing eco-friendly processes and ingredients in cosmetics, Michel Philippe ,  Blaise Didillon and Laurent Gilbert, Green Chem., 2012, DOI: 10.1039/C2GC16341A

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Top ten most accessed articles in January

This month sees the following articles in Green Chemistry that are in the top ten most accessed:-

Continuous flow reactors: a perspective
Charlotte Wiles and Paul Watts
Green Chem., 2012, 14, 38-54, DOI: 10.1039/C1GC16022B

How do the fine chemical, pharmaceutical, and related industries approach green chemistry and sustainability?
William J. W. Watson
Green Chem., 2012, 14, 251-259, DOI: 10.1039/C1GC15904F

Energy-efficient extraction of fuel and chemical feedstocks from algae
Rodrigo E. Teixeira
Green Chem., 2012, 14, 419-427, DOI: 10.1039/C2GC16225C

Environmentally benign synthesis of heterocyclic compounds by combined microwave-assisted heterogeneous catalytic approaches
Arif Daştan, Aditya Kulkarni and Béla Török
Green Chem., 2012, 14, 17-37, DOI: 10.1039/C1GC15837F

Chitosan functionalized ionic liquid as a recyclable biopolymer-supported catalyst for cycloaddition of CO2
Jian Sun, Jinquan Wang, Weiguo Cheng, Jianxin Zhang, Xiaohua Li, Suojiang Zhang and Yuanbin She
Green Chem., 2012, Advance Article, DOI: 10.1039/C2GC16335G

Poly(ethylene glycol)-functionalized imidazolium salts-palladium-catalyzed Suzuki reaction in water
Ning Liu, Chun Liu and Zilin Jin
Green Chem., 2012, Advance Article, DOI: 10.1039/C2GC16486H

Highly efficient conversion of carbon dioxide catalyzed by polyethylene glycol-functionalized basic ionic liquids
Zhen-Zhen Yang ,  Ya-Nan Zhao ,  Liang-Nian He ,  Jian Gao and Zhong-Shu Yin
Green Chem., 2012, 14, 519-527, DOI: 10.1039/C2GC16039K

DABCO-Promoted three-component regioselective synthesis of functionalized chromen-5-ones and pyrano[3,2-c]chromen-5-ones via direct annulation of a-oxoketene-N,S-arylaminoacetals under solvent-free conditions
Maya Shankar Singh, Ganesh Chandra Nandi and Subhasis Samai
Green Chem., 2012, 14, 447-455, DOI: 10.1039/C1GC16129F

L-Proline catalysed multicomponent synthesis of 3-amino alkylated indoles via a Mannich-type reaction under solvent-free conditions
Atul Kumar, Maneesh Kumar Gupta and Mukesh Kumar
Green Chem., 2012, Advance Article, DOI: 10.1039/C1GC16297G

A sustainable process for the production of γ-valerolactone by hydrogenation of biomass-derived levulinic acid
Anna Maria Raspolli Galletti, Claudia Antonetti, Valentina De Luise and Marco Martinelli
Green Chem., 2012, Advance Article, DOI: 10.1039/C2GC15872H

Why not take a look at the articles today and blog your thoughts and comments below.

Fancy submitting an article to Green Chemistry? Then why not submit to us today or alternatively email us your suggestions.

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Patterned growth of nanocrystalline silicon thin films through magnesiothermic reduction of soda lime glass

Scientists from Taiwan have developed a cheap and green method for producing nanocrystalline silicon thin films.

Silicon-based thin films have widespread applications including microelectronics, optoelectronics and photovoltaics.  Although there are several methods for producing these films, they can suffer from drawbacks such as high production costs or the resultant films possessing poor electronic properties. 

In this work Kuei-Hsien Chen, Li-Choyong Chen and colleagues from National Taiwan University and Academia Sinica, Taipei, used a magnesiothermic reduction process to successfully convert the surface of soda lime glass into a silicon thin film.  This involves using thermal evaporation to deposit a thin layer of magnesium onto the glass, followed by heating to produce the silicon.  The film thickness can easily be controlled by varying the reaction time, and the band gaps of the resulting films were within the range of 2.3-2.5 eV.

This article is free  to access until the 21st March 2012!  Click on the link below to find out more…

Patterned growth of nanocrystalline silicon thin films through magnesiothermic reduction of soda lime glass, Deniz P. Wong, Hsiang-Ting Lien, Yit-Tsong Chen, Kuei-Hsien Chen and Li-Chyong Chen, Green Chem., 2012, DOI: 10.1039/C2GC16459K

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Design, synthesis, and solution behaviour of small polyamines as switchable water additives

Canadian scientists report using polyamine derivatives as switchable water additives to salt out water-miscible organic compounds.

Philip Jessop and colleagues from Queen’s University, Kingston, Ontario and Concordia University, Montréal, Quebec, have developed an efficient system for the removal of water-miscible organic compounds using a recyclable “switchable water” system.  The system can be changed from low to high ionic strength by the simple introduction of CO2, and removal of CO2 afterwards restored the solvent system for reuse again. 

The team found that alkylammonium bicarbonate salts derived from polyamines were particularly additives as they could provide solutions of greater ionic strength at lower loadings in water, and have developed a set of principles for the design of future switchable water additives.

This article is free to access until the 14th March 2012!  Click on the link below to read more…

Design, synthesis, and solution behaviour of small polyamines as switchable water additives, Sean M. Mercer, Tobias Robert, Daniel V. Dixon, Chien-Shun Chen, Zahra Ghoshouni, Jitendra R. Harjani, Soran Jahangiri, Gilles H. Peslherbe and Philip G. Jessop, Green Chem., 2012, DOI: 10.1039/C2GC16240G

You may also be interested in these related articles, free to access for 2 weeks

Tertiary amine solvents having switchable hydrophilicity, Philip G. Jessop, Lisa Kozycz, Zahra Ghoshouni Rahami, Dylan Schoenmakers, Alaina R. Boyd, Dominik Wechsler and Amy M. Holland, Green Chem., 2011, 13, 619-623

A solvent having switchable hydrophilicity, Philip G. Jessop, Lam Phan, Andrew Carrier, Shona Robinson, Christoph J. Dürr and Jitendra R. Harjani, Green Chem., 2010, 12, 809-814

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Sn-Beta catalysed conversion of hemicellulosic sugars

Scientists from Denmark and the USA report the conversions of various pentoses and hexoses into methyl lactate and related products by using a Sn-Beta catalyst.

Esben Taarning and colleagues show that this Lewis Acidic zeotype material can convert hemicellulosic sugars into methyl lactate, glycoaldehyde dimethylacetal and methyl vinylglycolate.  The fact that this catalyst is able to convert both hexoses and pentoses to methyl lactate opens up the possibility of employing it in reactions with crude sugar mixtures.  This has major advantages over microorganism-catalysed reactions of sugars, as many microorganisms will often only use specific sugars as substrates.

This article will be free to access until the 12th March 2012!  Click on the link below to find out more…

Sn-Beta catalysed conversion of hemicellulosic sugars, Martin S. Holm, Yomaira J. Pagán-Torres, Shunmugavel Saravanamurugan, Anders Riisager, James A. Dumesic and Esben Taarning, Green Chem., 2012, DOI: 10.1039/C2GC16202D

You may also be interested to read these articles by the same authors – free to access for 2 weeks!

Production of liquid hydrocarbon fuels by catalytic conversion of biomass-derived levulinic acid, Drew J. Braden, Carlos A. Henao, Jacob Heltzel, Christos C. Maravelias and James A. Dumesic, Green Chem., 2011, 13, 1755-1765

Dependency of the hydrogen bonding capacity of the solvent anion on the thermal stability of feruloyl esterases in ionic liquid systems, Birgitte Zeuner, Tim Ståhlberg, Olivier Nguyen van Buu, Andreas Jonas Kunov-Kruse, Anders Riisager and Anne S. Meyer, Green Chem., 2011, 13, 1550-1557

Stay up-to-date with the latest content in Green Chemistry by registering for our free table of contents alerts.

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Reviews in Green Chemistry – a cross journal collection

Image courtesy of Shutterstock

 The development of green and sustainable chemistry is one of the most topical issues of today and is relevant across all areas of chemistry in academia and industry.   

Chemical Society Reviews (Chem Soc Rev), Green Chemistry and Energy & Environmental Science (EES) are delighted to present a combined collection of high quality reviews covering a broad range of topics from this field.  The collection includes reviews currently featured in Chem Soc Rev’s Green Chemistry themed issue (online now), as well as a selection of cutting edge reviews published in Green Chemistry and EES last year.   

All these articles are free to access for a limited time only, so make the most of this opportunity and take a look…  

Fundamentals of green chemistry: efficiency in reaction design, Roger Sheldon, Chem. Soc. Rev., 2012, 41, 1437.  

Evaluating the “Greenness” of chemical processes and products in the pharmaceutical industry—a green metrics primer, Concepción Jiménez-González et al., Chem. Soc. Rev., 2012, 41, 1485.  

Searching for green solvents, Philip, G. Jessop, Green Chem., 2011, 13, 1391.  

Derivation and synthesis of renewable surfactants, Evan S. Beach et al., Chem. Soc. Rev., 2012, 41, 1499.        

Industrial biotechnology―the future of green chemistry?, Udo Kragl et al., Green Chem., 2011, 13, 3007.  

Expanding the organic toolbox: a guide to integrating biocatalysis in synthesis, Christopher M. Clouthier and Joelle Pelletier, Chem. Soc. Rev., 2012, 41, 1585.  

Enzyme immobilization on/in polymeric membranes: status, challenges and perspectives in biocatalytic membrane reactors (BMRs), Yamini Satyawali et al., Green Chem., 2011, 13, 1609.  

Immobilization technology: a sustainable solution for biofuel cell design, Xiao-Yu Yang et al., Energy Environ. Sci., 2012, 5, 5540-5563  

Green chemistry oriented organic synthesis in water, Marc-Olivier Simon and Chao-Jun Li, Chem. Soc. Rev., 2012, 41, 1415.   

Fischer–Tropsch fuels refinery design, Arno de Klerk, Energy Environ. Sci., 2011, 4, 1177.

The importance of green chemistry in process research and development, Peter J. Dunn, Chem. Soc. Rev., 2012, 41, 1452.   

Alternative energy input: mechanochemical, microwave and ultrasound-assisted organic synthesis, R. B. Nasir Baig and Rajender S. Varma, Chem. Soc. Rev., 2012, 41, 1559. 

Image courtesy of Shutterstock

Ionic liquid processing of cellulose, Robin D. Rogers et al., Chem. Soc. Rev., 2012, 41, 1519. 

Processing of metals and metal oxides using ionic liquids, Andrew P. Abbott et al., Green Chem., 2011, 13, 471. 

Continuous reactions in supercritical carbon dioxide: problems, solutions and possible ways forward, Xue Han and Martyn Poliakoff, Chem. Soc. Rev., 2012, 41, 1428. 

Green materials synthesis with supercritical water, Tadafumi Adschiri et al., Green Chem., 2011, 13, 1380. 

Multiple objectives in biofuels sustainability policy, Jon C. Lovett et al., Energy Environ. Sci., 2011, 4, 261. 

Conversion of biomass to selected chemical products, Pierre Gallezot, Chem. Soc. Rev., 2012, 41, 1538.   

Toward a rational control of solid acid catalysis for green synthesis and biomass conversion, Ken-ichi Shimizu and Atsushi Satsuma, Energy Environ. Sci., 2011, 4, 3140-3153   

Waste materials―catalytic opportunities: an overview of the application of large scale waste materials as resources for catalytic applications, J. S. J. Hargreaves et al., Green Chem., 2011, 13, 16.   

Recent advances in the recycling of homogeneous catalysts using membrane separation, Dieter Vogt et al., Green Chem., 2011, 13, 2247.   

Cobalt catalysts for the coupling of CO2 and epoxides to provide polycarbonates and cyclic carbonates, Xiao-Bing Lu and Donald J. Darensbourg, Chem. Soc. Rev., 2012, 41, 1462.

Keep up-to-date with the latest reviews and primary research in this field by registering for our e-alerts today!

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Green Chemistry Chair receives two more scientific acolades

Professor Martyn Poliakoff from the University of Nottingham and Chair of the Green Chemistry Editorial Board, has been awarded the Royal Society of Chemistry’s Nyholm Prize for Education and has been elected as a foreign member of the Russian Academy of Sciences.

The Nyholm Prize for Education, in honour of Sir Ronald Hyholm, has been awarded to Professor Poliakoff for his work in bringing a whole new audience to chemistry through the Periodic Table of Videos.  Professor Poliakoff said:

“I was really happy to be awarded the Nyholm Prize which I regard as a prize for the whole of the Periodic Table of Videos team. It is particularly gratifying as Sir Ronald Nyholm, in whose honour this prize is named, was a hugely important figure in both chemical research and chemical education.”

Professor Poliakoff will present a talk entitled ‘From Test Tube to YouTube’ at the RSC Education Division Nyholm Symposium at the University of Nottingham on Wednesday the 8th February. 

Professor Poliakoff has also been elected as a foreign member of the Russian Academy of Sciences, an honour which is particularly special due to his own strong links with the country. 

Green Chemistry would like to extend our warmest congratulations to Professor Poliakoff.

 

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Green Chemistry Issue 2 now online!

The latest issue of Green Chemistry is now available online.

The front cover of this issue features work by Rodrigo Teixeira from the University of Alabama in Huntsville, USA who reports the energy efficient extraction of fuel and chemical feedstocks from algae.  The deconstruction of algae cell walls and release of the cells contents was achieved by dissolution and hydrolysis of wet algae biomass in ionic liquids.  This process does not require acids, bases or any other catalysts, and can be completed in less than 50 mins (regardless of the algae species) at 100-140 °C and atmospheric pressure. 

Energy-efficient extraction of fuel and chemical feedstocks from algae, Rodrigo E. Teixeira, Green Chem., 2012, 14, 419-427

The inside front cover highlights work by Richard Daniellou, Daniel Plusquellec and colleagues from the National School of Chemistry of Rennes and the European University of Brittany, France, who report aqueous solutions of facial amphiphilic carbohydrates as a sustainable media for organocatalyzed direct aldol reactions.  Their system was applied to the direct aldol reaction of m-nitrobenzaldehyde with various cyclohexanones, and proceeded with high yields, shortened reaction times and improved diastereoselectivities. 

Aqueous solutions of facial amphiphilic carbohydrates as sustainable media for organocatalyzed direct aldol reactions, Ana Bellomo, Richard Daniellou and Daniel Plusquellec, Green Chem., 2012, 14, 281-284

Read these articles for free until the 14th March 2012!

Stay up-to-date with the latest content in Green Chemistry by registering for our free table of contents alerts!

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One-pot synthesis of heterocycles

Read about two of our latest hot articles on one-pot syntheses of heterocycles…

Yong Huang (Peking University, China) and Hong Shen (Merck Research Laboratories, New Jersey, USA) and colleagues report the synthesis of medicinally useful heterocycles such as pyridazinones and dihydropyrimidinones through a mild and highly efficient one-pot triple cascade procedure.  The cascade involves a Claisen-decarboxylation, an electrophilic reaction and subsequent heterocyclisation.  Indazoles and benzofurans could also be constructed through a double cascade reaction.  Click on the link below to find out more…

One-pot synthesis of useful heterocycles in medicinal chemistry using a cascade strategy, Guiyong Wu, Weiyu Yin, Hong C. Shen and Yong Huang, Green Chem., 2012, DOI: 10.1039/C2GC16457D

Li-Rong Wen, Ming Li and colleagues from Qingdao University of Science and Technology, China, present the efficient, solvent-free synthesis of imidazo[1,2-α]pyridine derivatives via a one-pot three-component reaction.  The reaction involves annualtion of heterocyclic ketene aminals and β-oxodithioesters with aldehydes using ET3N as the catalyst. The procedure is completed quickly with high regioselectivity and allows for easy purification.  Click on the link below to find out more…

Solvent-free and efficient synthesis of imidazo[1,2-a]pyridine derivatives via a one-pot three-component reaction, Li-Rong Wen, Zhao-Rui Li, Ming Li and Han Cao, Green Chem., 2012, DOI: 10.1039/C2GC16388H

These articles are free to access until the 2nd March 2012!  

Stay up-to-date with the latest content in Green Chemistry by registering for our free table of contents alerts.

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