Green Chemistry Blog

Issue 1 of Green Chemistry is now available to read online.

This year we celebrate our milestone of 15 years of publication, and in issue 1 you can read an Editorial from all of Green Chemistry’s Chairs of the Editorial board and Scientific Editors marking the occasion.

We have also put together a special web collection, with contributions from authors who have had highly cited articles from each of the past 15 years : 15 Years of Green Chemistry

The front cover this month (pictured left) features work by Brian Davison and co-workers. In their work they investigate the mechanism of biomass breakdown. Understanding this process should lead to more efficient use of biomass.

Read the full article:
Common processes drive the thermochemical pretreatment of lignocellulosic biomass
Paul Langan, Loukas Petridis, Hugh M. O’Neill, Sai Venkatesh Pingali, Marcus Foston, Yoshiharu Nishiyama, Roland Schulz, Benjamin Lindner, B. Leif Hanson, Shane Harton, William T. Heller, Volker Urban, Barbara R. Evans, S. Gnanakaran, Arthur J. Ragauskas, Jeremy C. Smith and Brian H. Davison  
Green Chem., 2014, 16, 63-68, DOI: 10.1039/C3GC41962B

The inside front cover this month (pictured right) features work by Kevin Moeller and co-workers from Missouri, USA. In their work they set up a simple solar-electrochemical reaction to recycle Os(VIII)-, TEMPO-, Ce(IV)-, Pd(II)-, Ru(VIII)-, and Mn(V)-oxidants.

Read the full article:
Sunlight, electrochemistry, and sustainable oxidation reactions
Bichlien H. Nguyen, Alison Redden and Kevin D. Moeller  
Green Chem., 2014, 16, 69-72, DOI: 10.1039/C3GC41650J

Both of these articles are free to access for 6 weeks!

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

Projectile hydrogen molecules are central to a new green method for precisely breaking one of the most abundant and industrially important bonds you can find.

The hydrogen differentiates its colliding partners by their atomic mass

C–H bonds are very stable and as such their cleavage normally requires either a temperature above 300°C or treatment with something like irradiation – both of which can cause organic molecules to lose their functionality. Now a method developed by Leo Lau of Western University in Canada and colleagues can break C–H bonds without damaging the rest of the molecule.

Lau explains that although H₂ is unreactive at room temperature, by raising its kinetic energy to more than 10eV it is possible to drive C–H cleavage when the H₂ hits the H atom of a C–H bond. The H₂ works as a light-mass projectile and differentiates its colliding partners by their atomic mass and ‘like the scalpel of a skilful surgeon’ only excises a hydrogen atom. The dissociation occurs nearly 100% of the time and all of the other bonds remain intact.

Read the full article in Chemistry World»

Read the original journal article in Green Chemistry:
Cleaving C–H bonds with hyperthermal H2: facile chemistry to cross-link organic molecules under low chemical- and energy-loads
Tomas Trebicky, Patrick Crewdson, Maxim Paliy, Igor Bello, Heng-Yong Nie, Zhi Zheng, Xiaoli Fan, Jun Yang, Elizabeth R. Gillies, Changyu Tang, Hao Liu, K. W. Wong and W. M. Lau  
Green Chem., 2014, Advance Article, DOI: 10.1039/C3GC41460D

A collaboration between scientists at Frankfurt’s DECHEMA Research Institute and the Delft University of Technology has established a biocatalytic route to make bio-based antiseptics from carvacrol and thymol. Halogenation of monoterpenes yields interesting antimicrobial compounds, some with anti-tumour activity and other desirable medicinal properties. As more is discovered about enzymatic halogenation (and significant progress on this front is only recent) it becomes increasingly viable as a benign technology for the synthesis of these important molecules.

A chloroperoxidase enzyme was used to form hypochloride from sodium chloride and hydrogen peroxide, with later experiments exploring combined electrochemical enzymatic halogenation, producing the hydrogen peroxide in situ from oxygen. The hypochloride then reacts with carvacrol or thymol to produce their respective monochloro-derivatives. For example, an ortho-chlorothymol to para-chlorothymol molar ratio of 70:30 was achieved, with yields exceeding 80% under optimised conditions.

The greenness of this methodology is apparent upon comparison to the typical reaction conditions, as highlighted by Getrey et al. and found here. In contrast to the application of copper(II) chloride as a catalyst in the chlorination of phenol derivatives with oxygen and lithium chloride, this new enzymatic process operates at a lower temperature with less catalyst, and does not require an organic solvent.

By James Sherwood

Click below to read the full article. Free to access until 8th January.

Enzymatic halogenation of the phenolic monoterpenes thymol and carvacrol with chloroperoxidase, Laura Getrey, Thomas Krieg, Frank Hollmann, Jens Schrader and Dirk Holtmann, Green Chemistry, 2014, DOI: 10.1039/C3GC42269K

The 10 most-accessed Green Chemistry articles between July and September 2013 were as follows:

Synthesis of thioesters through copper-catalyzed coupling of aldehydes with thiols in water
Chih-Lun Yi, Yu-Ting Huang and Chin-Fa Lee  
Green Chem., 2013,15, 2476-2484, DOI: 10.1039/C3GC40946E, Paper

Highly efficient iron(0) nanoparticle-catalyzed hydrogenation in water in flow
Reuben Hudson, Go Hamasaka, Takao Osako, Yoichi M. A. Yamada, Chao-Jun Li, Yasuhiro Uozumi and Audrey Moores  
Green Chem., 2013,15, 2141-2148, DOI: 10.1039/C3GC40789F, Paper 

Iodine-mediated arylation of benzoxazoles with aldehydes
Yew Chin Teo, Siti Nurhanna Riduan and Yugen Zhang  
Green Chem., 2013,15, 2365-2368, DOI: 10.1039/C3GC41027G, Communication

Polymer anchored Cu(II) complex: an efficient and recyclable catalytic system for the one-pot synthesis of 1,4-disubstituted 1,2,3-triazoles starting from anilines in water
Susmita Roy, Tanmay Chatterjee and Sk. Manirul Islam  
Green Chem., 2013,15, 2532-2539, DOI: 10.1039/C3GC41114A, Paper

 Multicomponent reactions in unconventional solvents: state of the art
Yanlong Gu  
Green Chem., 2012,14, 2091-2128, DOI: 10.1039/C2GC35635J, Critical Review

Photocatalysis on supported gold and silver nanoparticles under ultraviolet and visible light irradiation
Sarina Sarina, Eric R. Waclawik and Huaiyong Zhu  
Green Chem., 2013,15, 1814-1833, DOI: 10.1039/C3GC40450A, Tutorial Review

Characterization and comparison of hydrophilic and hydrophobic room temperature ionic liquids incorporating the imidazolium cation
Jonathan G. Huddleston, Ann E. Visser, W. Matthew Reichert, Heather D. Willauer, Grant A. Broker and Robin D. Rogers  
Green Chem., 2001,3, 156-164, DOI: 10.1039/B103275P, Paper

Deconstruction of lignocellulosic biomass with ionic liquids
Agnieszka Brandt, John Gräsvik, Jason P. Hallett and Tom Welton  
Green Chem., 2013,15, 550-583, DOI: 10.1039/C2GC36364J, Critical Review

Hydrolysis of cellulose to glucose by solid acid catalysts
Yao-Bing Huang and Yao Fu  
Green Chem., 2013,15, 1095-1111, DOI: 10.1039/C3GC40136G, Tutorial Review

Catalytic conversion of biomass to biofuels
David Martin Alonso, Jesse Q. Bond and James A. Dumesic  
Green Chem., 2010,12, 1493-1513, DOI: 10.1039/C004654J, Critical Review

Take a look at the articles and then let us know your thoughts and comments below.

Fancy submitting your own work to Green Chemistry? You can submit online today, or email us with your ideas and suggestions.