Kathryn L. Gempf – Green Chemistry Blog

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Green Chemistry research nominated as a finalist for the 2019 German Future Award

18 Sep 2019

On 11 September 2019, the use of CO2 as raw material for the production of polyurethane polymers was nominated as one of three finalists to be considered for the German Future Award.

The research carried out by a team including Professor Walter Leitner, Advisory Board member and previous Editorial Board Chair of Green Chemistry, shows how carbon dioxide can be transformed into a component for plastics and fuels.

Professor Leitner is delighted to see that green chemistry is being recognised and celebrated in this way, and shares that the scientific basis for the innovation has featured prominently in two Green Chemistry papers:

Carbon dioxide (CO₂) as sustainable feedstock for polyurethane production
Langanke, A. Wolf, J. Hofmann, K. Böhm, M. A. Subhani, T. E. Müller, W. Leitner and C. Gürtler
Green Chem., 2014, 16, 1865-1870. DOI: 10.1039/C3GC41788C

Life cycle assessment of polyols for polyurethane production using CO₂ as feedstock: insights from an industrial case study
Niklas von der Assen and André Bardow
Green Chem., 2014, 16, 3272-3280. DOI: 10.1039/C4GC00513A

The German Future Award is the highest national distinction for innovation in Germany and will be awarded on 27 November 2019 in Berlin, in presence of the President of Germany, Frank-Walter Steinmeier.

Find out more and read the Press Releases here:

Covestro: https://press.covestro.com/news.nsf/id/BFWFVX-In-the-finals-for-the-German-Presidents-Award?

RWTH Aachen: https://www.rwth-aachen.de/cms/root/Die-RWTH/Aktuell/Pressemitteilungen/September-2019/~dmqpe/Kreis-der-Besten-um-den-Deutschen-Zukunf/lidx/1/

Max Planck Institute: https://www.mpg.de/13876376/in-the-finals-for-the-german-future-prize

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Green Chemistry celebrates the 20th anniversary of the journal at ISGC-2019

28 May 2019

The ISGC 2019: International Symposium on Green Chemistry was held from 13–27 May 2019 in La Rochelle, France.

The conference aimed to gather the most eminent scientists involved in the field of green chemistry to debate on the future challenges of chemistry, keeping in mind the problems of access to a sustainable energy, the management of resources (carbon, water, metals, minerals), human development, global warming, impact on the environment, competitiveness of industry.

On 15 May, the conference morning was dedicated to Green Chemistry journal, with a special symposium held to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the journal.

Green Chemistry Executive Editor Anna Simpson and Green Chemistry Editorial Board member and ISGC Conference organiser François Jerome chaired the symposium, introducing speakers from Green Chemistry Editorial Board and Associate Editors: Tao Zhang, Rajender Varma, Helen Sneddon, Elsje Alessandra Quadrelli and Keiichi Tomishige. Chair of the Green Chemistry Editorial Board, Philip Jessop, closed the symposium, sharing some of his own work as well as the future directions for Green Chemistry journal.

Green Chemistry was also pleased announce the following poster prizes winners who received RSC Books:

Yannik Louven, ITMC RWTH Aachen, Germany. Poster titled: Production of N-Vinyl-Pyrrolidones from Bio-Based Carboxylic Acids and

Eduarda S Morais, CICECO, University of Aveiro, Portugal. Poster titled: Bacterial nanocellulose membranes loaded with phenolic-based ionic liquids for cutaneous application.

Congratulations to Yannik and Eduarda on receiving these prizes.

All speakers at the ISGC 2019 conference are invited to submit a paper for considerations in a Green Chemistry themed collection. The collection will be appearing later this year. Find it, and other themed collections, online: here.

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Green Chemistry research leads to major milestone in MOFs development

19 Oct 2018

Following publication in Green Chemistry of:

Aqueous production of spherical Zr-MOF beads via continuous-flow spray-drying

Ceren Avci-Camur, Javier Troyano, Javier Pérez-Carvajal, Alexandre Legrand, David Farrusseng, Inhar Imaz and Daniel Maspoch
Green Chem., 2018, 20, 873-878. DOI: 10.1039/C7GC03132G

EU project partners research team have successfully developed synthesis processes enabling the manufacture of metal organic framework (MOFs) materials at an industrial scale. These innovative methods have reduced production costs permitting MOFs to be priced competitively against many current market leading materials. Being able to offer MOFs at an economically viable cost and utilising their superior performance, these materials are perfectly suited to meet tomorrow’s big challenges in energy, environmental and health related application areas.

Find out more and read the press releases:

http://www.prodia-mof.eu/news.html

http://www.axel-one.org/press

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Introducing new Green Chemistry Editorial Board member: François Jérôme

02 Mar 2018

François Jérôme, University of Poitiers, France

François received his PhD degree in chemistry from the University of Burgundy (France) in 2000 in the group of Prof. R. Guilard. Then, he moved as a postdoc to the University of California of Davis (USA) and the group of Prof. K. M. Smith followed by a second postdoctoral position at the University of Rennes 1 under the guidance of Prof. P. H. Dixneuf where he worked on ruthenium-catalyzed reactions. In 2002, he joined the CNRS as a permanent researcher in the Laboratoire de Catalyse en Chimie Organique located at the University of Poitiers. In 2011, he was promoted as a CNRS research director at the Institut de Chimie des Milieux et Matériaux de Poitiers. In 2015, he created the research federation INCREASE, hosted by the CNRS, gathering scientists from academia working together with chemical companies on the design of sustainable chemicals.

He is now deputy of the Institut de Chimie des Milieux et Matériaux de Poitiers, member of the executive committee of the French division of Catalysis and chairman of the International Symposium on Green Chemistry (ISGC); editions 2013, 2015, 2017 and 2019.

His main research interests concern the development of technologies capable of activating and converting concentrated feed of renewable polyols (glycerol, mono- and polysaccharides) to specialty chemicals.

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2017 Green Chemistry HOT Articles collection

02 Feb 2018

This collection showcases all 2017 Green Chemistry articles highlighted as HOT by the handling editor. Congratulations to all the authors whose articles are featured.

Read it here for free until the end of February 2018

It includes:

Perspective
The E factor 25 years on: the rise of green chemistry and sustainability
Roger A. Sheldon
Green Chem., 2017, 19, 18-43. DOI: 10.1039/C6GC02157C

Critical Review
Lignin transformations for high value applications: towards targeted modifications using green chemistry
S. Gillet, M. Aguedo, L. Petitjean, A. R. C. Morais, A. M. da Costa Lopes, R. M. Łukasik and P. T. Anastas
Green Chem., 2017, 19, 4200-4233. DOI: 10.1039/C7GC01479A

Tutorial Review
Metal–organic frameworks meet scalable and sustainable synthesis
Patrick A. Julien, Cristina Mottillo and Tomislav Friščić
Green Chem., 2017, 19, 2729-2747. DOI: 10.1039/C7GC01078H

Communication
Incorporation of carbon dioxide into phthalides via ligand-free copper-catalyzed direct carboxylation of benzoxasiloles
Thanh V. Q. Nguyen, José A. Rodríguez-Santamaría, Woo-Jin Yoo and Shū Kobayashi
Green Chem., 2017, 19, 2501-2505. DOI: 10.1039/C7GC00917H

Communication
Effective separation of aromatic and aliphatic amino acid mixtures using ionic-liquid-based aqueous biphasic systems
Emanuel V. Capela, Maria V. Quental, Pedro Domingues, João A. P. Coutinho and Mara G. Freire
Green Chem., 2017, 19, 1850-1854. DOI: 10.1039/C6GC03060B

Paper
Metal-catalyzed reductive deamination of glutamic acid to bio-based dimethyl glutarate and methylamines
Free De Schouwer, Thomas Cuypers, Laurens Claes and Dirk E. De Vos
Green Chem., 2017, 19, 1866-1876. DOI: 10.1039/C6GC03222B

Paper
Biphasic extraction of mechanocatalytically-depolymerized lignin from water-soluble wood and its catalytic downstream processing
Gaetano Calvaruso, Matthew T. Clough and Roberto Rinaldi
Green Chem., 2017, 19, 2803-2811. DOI: 10.1039/C6GC03191A

We hope you enjoy reading the articles.

Is your research HOT? Our editors are already handpicking the hottest 2018 content for our rolling 2018 . Submit your work for consideration now.

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Superchemist front cover depicts research of tropylium salts in acetalization reactions

29 Aug 2017

Tropylium salts as efficient organic Lewis acid catalysts for acetalization and transacetalization reactions in batch and flow

Acetalization reactions play significant roles in the synthetically important masking chemistry of carbonyl compounds. In their paper the authors demonstrate for the first time that tropylium salts can act as organic Lewis acid catalysts to facilitate acetalization and transacetalization reactions of a wide range of aldehyde substrates. This metal-free method works efficiently in both batch and flow conditions, prompting further future applications of tropylium organocatalysts in green synthesis.

As featured on the front cover of Green Chemistry Issue 17, Dr Vinh Nguyen tells us a little more about the artwork: “This graphic features a “superchemist” in safety goggles and white labcoat/cape holding a round-bottom flask. He is holding a heptagonal shield representing our tropylium ion. There are engravings on the shield denoting what chemicals can be used to protect the “carbonyl compound” on his chest.”

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Green Chemistry publishes: a new way to remove 99% of harmful BPA from water

08 Aug 2017

Green Chemistry Review gains worldwide press coverage.

An international team of scientists have designed a water treatment system that can remove the harmful chemical BPA from water with 99% effectiveness – as published in Green Chemistry.

Dr Matthew DeNardo, one of the review‘s authors and the primary author of the BPA sections tells us about how the work came together:

The Institute for Green Science at Carnegie Mellon University, which is led by Terrence J. Collins, the Teresa Heinz Professor of Green Chemistry, focuses on the multidisciplinary development of TAML processes for the removal of endocrine disruptors from waters. Production of this authentic, high-quality work, requires engagement of the many fields necessary to direct chemistry towards sustainability. For example, this manuscript would not have been possible without significant contributions from The Department of Environmental and Molecular Toxicology at Oregon State University and both The Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering and Centre for Green Chemical Science at the University of Auckland.

The mini-reviews, which Dr. Collins and I wrote together, unify the findings of several disciplines concisely to illuminate the emergent truths. It is fitting that this ‘level of thought’ is necessary to both demonstrate the massive challenge facing the chemical enterprise and the path towards better chemical design and stewardship. Composing these sections, which was both necessary and right, was met with generous financial and moral support, an all-too-rare response for which I will be ever-grateful to Dr. Collins and the Heinz Endowments. I am also deeply indebted to all of the authors for their efforts and patience.

Read the original Green Chemistry publication here.

Find out more about the breakthrough from science outlets including Environmental Health News, Phys.org, New Scientist and RSC News.

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Harvesting Renewable Energy with Chemistry themed collection now online

14 Jul 2017

We are delighted to announce that the Green Chemistry themed collection on Harvesting Renewable Energy with Chemistry is now online and free to access until the end of July 2017.

Direct, efficient, and selective routes from renewable energies to targeted added-value chemicals are a crucial token of the necessary paradigm shift towards energy systems based on renewable resources. Guest-edited by Walter Leitner, Alessandra Quadrelli and Robert Schlögl, this special issue will highlight innovative concepts and recent developments in academia and industry at the interface between the energy and chemical sector.

Read the full collection online

It includes:

Editorial
Harvesting renewable energy with chemistry
Walter Leitner, Elsje Alessandra Quadrelli and Robert Schlögl
Green Chem., 2017, 19, 2307-2308. DOI: 10.1039/C7GC90045G

Critical review
Structural models of the biological oxygen-evolving complex: achievements, insights, and challenges for biomimicry
Satadal Paul, Frank Neese and Dimitrios A. Pantazis
Green Chem., 2017, 19, 2309-2325. DOI: 10.1039/C7GC00425G

Critical review
Syngas production from electrochemical reduction of CO₂: current status and prospective implementation
Simelys Hernández, M. Amin Farkhondehfal, Francesc Sastre, Michiel Makkee, Guido Saracco and Nunzio Russo
Green Chem., 2017, 19, 2326-2346. DOI: 10.1039/C7GC00398F

Communication
Earth-abundant photocatalytic systems for the visible-light-driven reduction of CO₂ to CO
Alonso Rosas-Hernández, Christoph Steinlechner, Henrik Junge and Matthias Beller
Green Chem., 2017, 19, 2356-2360. DOI: 10.1039/C6GC03527B

Paper
Water splitting using a three-dimensional plasmonic photoanode with titanium dioxide nano-tunnels
Ryohei Takakura, Tomoya Oshikiri, Kosei Ueno, Xu Shi, Toshiaki Kondo, Hideki Masuda and Hiroaki Misawa
Green Chem., 2017, 19, 2398-2405. DOI: 10.1039/C6GC03217F

Paper
Continuous niobium phosphate catalysed Skraup reaction for quinoline synthesis from solketal
Jing Jin, Sandro Guidi, Zahra Abada, Zacharias Amara, Maurizio Selva, Michael W. George and Martyn Poliakoff
Green Chem., 2017, 19, 2439-2447. DOI: 10.1039/C6GC03140D

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Green Chemistry’s Impact Factor increases to 9.125

14 Jun 2017

Green Chemistry is delighted to announce its Impact Factor has increased to 9.125*.

Green Chemistry continues to lead the field as the home of cutting-edge science for the development of alternative sustainable technologies and number 1 journal in the ‘Green & Sustainable Science & Technology’ category of the Journal Citation Reports.

The broad scope and interdisciplinary nature of the research published in the journal, coupled with rigorous peer review and rapid times to publication of 49 days** from receipt to acceptance, ensures your work will quickly attract the attention it deserves.

We would like to thank all our authors, readers, reviewers and Editorial & Advisory Board members for making Green Chemistry a unique forum for research that enables a greener sustainable future

Find the all the RSC’s journals newly published 2016 Impact Factors* here.

*The Impact Factor provides an indication of the average number of citations per paper. Produced annually, Impact Factors are calculated by dividing the number of citations in a year, by the number of citeable articles published in the preceding two years. Data based on 2016 Journal Citation Reports® (Thomson Reuters).

**2016 average

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New Green Chemistry Associate Editor: Alessandra Quadrelli

10 May 2017

We are delighted to welcome Dr Elsje Alessandra Quadrelli as our newest Green Chemistry Associate Editor.

Alessandra Quadrelli, CNRS and ESCPE Lyon, France

ORCiD http://orcid.org/0000-0002-8606-1183

Alessandra is the CNRS director of research in the “Surface organometallic chemistry” team of the C2P2 laboratory in Lyon (France). Her research in the C2P2 unit, under triple tutelage CNRS CPE and Université de Lyon 1, focuses on gaining molecular understanding of the interaction between organometallic precursors and solid surfaces, such as silica and more recently, metal organic frameworks and 2D supports, in route to heterogeneous catalysts and functional materials. As chairwoman of the Sustainability Chair of Chemical, Physics and Electronic Engineering School CPE Lyon, she teaches graduate and undergraduate courses an organizes the biyearly international conference “CO2 Forum” on large scale carbon dioxide utilisations”.

As a Green Chemistry Associate Editor, Alessandra will provide her expertise in particular in the fields of:

Surface organometallic chemistry
Supported catalysis
Inorganic oxides
MOFs
Small molecule activation

Submit your best green chemistry work in these areas to Alessandra now.

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