Green Chemistry Blog

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.

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Issue 12 of Green Chemistry is now available to read online.

The front cover this month (pictured left) features work by Peter C. K. Lau and co-workers from Quebec, Canada. In their work they engineer sinapic acid decarboxylaseas an alternative to chemistry-based or thermal decarboxylation to produce canolol from canola meal.

Read the full article:
Antioxidant canolol production from a renewable feedstock via an engineered decarboxylase
Krista L. Morley, Stephan Grosse, Hannes Leisch and Peter C. K. Lau  
Green Chem., 2013, 15, 3312-3317, DOI: 10.1039/C3GC40748A

The inside front cover this month (pictured right) features work by Joerg Schrittwieser, Frank Hollmann and co-workers from Deltf, The Netherlands. In their work they show how the one-pot combination of alcohol dehydrogenase (ADH) and palladium nanoparticle (Pd-NP) catalysis provides access to aromatic 1,2-amino alcohols in high yields and excellent optical purities.

Read the full article:
One-pot combination of enzyme and Pd nanoparticle catalysis for the synthesis of enantiomerically pure 1,2-amino alcohols
Joerg H. Schrittwieser, Francesca Coccia, Selin Kara, Barbara Grischek, Wolfgang Kroutil, Nicola d’Alessandro and Frank Hollmann  
Green Chem., 2013, 15, 3318-3331, DOI: 10.1039/C3GC41666F

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.

Here are the latest HOT papers published in Green Chemistry, as recommended by the referees:

Mimicking mineral neogenesis for the clean synthesis of metal–organic materials from mineral feedstocks: coordination polymers, MOFs and metal oxide separation
Feng Qi, Robin S. Stein and Tomislav Friščić  
Green Chem., 2013, Advance Article. DOI: 10.1039/C3GC41370E

One-pot combination of enzyme and Pd nanoparticle catalysis for the synthesis of enantiomerically pure 1,2-amino alcohols
Joerg H. Schrittwieser, Francesca Coccia, Selin Kara, Barbara Grischek, Wolfgang Kroutil, Nicola d’Alessandro and Frank Hollmann  
Green Chem., 2013, Advance Article, DOI: 10.1039/C3GC41666F

Sunlight, electrochemistry, and sustainable oxidation reactions
Bichlien H. Nguyen, Alison Redden and Kevin D. Moeller  
Green Chem., 2013, Advance Article, DOI: 10.1039/C3GC41650J

All the papers listed above are free to access for the next 4 weeks!

Chlorophyll formation was enhanced when algae were grown in a flask surrounded by a solution of gold and silver nanoparticles

Scientists in Australia have developed a nanoparticle light filter system that only lets through wavelengths favourable for microalgae growth. The system could make producing algal biofuels more efficient.

Photosynthetic systems, particularly microalgae, are at the forefront of the search for new renewable fuels and feedstock chemicals. The speed and efficiency at which microalgae grow is currently limiting them from becoming a commercially viable product so optimising their production is obviously a priority.

Colin Raston from Flinders University and his co-workers at the University of Western Australia have developed a new technique to enhance the formation and accumulation of photopigments, namely chlorophyll, in algae. They cultured Chlorella vulgaris in flasks that were surrounded by a solution of gold and silver nanoparticles. Tweaking the composition and size of the nanoparticles alters the wavelengths of light allowed through to the algae.

Read the full article in Chemistry World»

Read the original journal article in Green Chemistry:
Enhanced accumulation of microalgal pigments using metal nanoparticle solutions as light filtering devices
Ela Eroglu, Paul K. Eggers, Matthew Winslade, Steven M. Smith and Colin L. Raston  
Green Chem., 2013, 15, 3155-3159, DOI: 10.1039/C3GC41291A

Issue 11 of Green Chemistry is now available to read online. 

The front cover this month (pictured left) features work by Wouter De Soute and co-workers from Ghent, Belgium. In their work, they show that shifting from batch to continuous pharmaceutical tablet manufacturing results in a significant reduction in natural resource extraction. 

Read the full article:
Exergetic sustainability assessment of batch versus continuous wet granulation based pharmaceutical tablet manufacturing: a cohesive analysis at three different levels
Wouter De Soete, Jo Dewulf, Philippe Cappuyns, Geert Van der Vorst, Bert Heirman, Wim Aelterman, Kris Schoeters and Herman Van Langenhove  
Green Chem., 2013, 15, 3039-3048, DOI: 10.1039/C3GC41185K 

The inside front cover this month (pictured right) features work by Davit Zargarian and co-workers from Quebec, Canada. In their work they reveal a new one-pot method for the efficient and atom-economical synthesis of POCOP-type pincer complexes of divalent nickel that serve as pre-catalysts for various catalytic transformations.

Read the full article:
Direct, one-pot synthesis of POCOP-type pincer complexes from metallic nickel
Boris Vabre, Fabien Lindeperg and Davit Zargarian  
Green Chem., 2013, 15, 3188-3194, DOI: 10.1039/C3GC40968F 

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.

Lignin, a component of plant cell walls, gives plants the strength to grow tall but this strength is a barrier to turning plants into biofuels. So researchers in the UK have devised an efficient way to make complex model compounds of lignin to help them figure out the best way to break lignin down.

Lignin is a complex and random polymer. This representative substructure shows some of the common linkages in lignin

Unlike cellulose, a plant cell wall component with a repeating polymer structure, lignin is a complex and random polymer. The chemical units are linked by different connectivities, so one single process cannot attack all of these bonds. Previously, monomers and dimers were used to model chemical linkages of lignin, but were too simple for the study of lignin itself. More complex trimers, tetramers and hexamers have been synthesised, but with inefficient, low-yielding methods.

Work undertaken in Gary Sheldrake’s group at Queen’s University Belfast looks set to significantly advance the study of lignin with the development of a new scalable synthetic route for complex model lignin oligomers that produces several grams of product, and can easily be performed in a standard lab. ‘The ultimate aim was to get a synthesis that worked, but we tried as far as possible to avoid ungreen solvents and harsh conditions,’ notes Sheldrake.

Read the full article in Chemistry World»

Read the original journal article in Green Chemistry:
An efficient and flexible synthesis of model lignin oligomers
W. Graham Forsythe, Mark D. Garrett, Christopher Hardacre, Mark Nieuwenhuyzen and Gary N. Sheldrake  
Green Chem., 2013, DOI: 10.1039/C3GC41110A, Paper

Scientists in France have developed a computer-assisted organic synthesis program to design sustainable solvents from bio-based building blocks.

The GRASS software has a green chemistry-focussed approach to solvent design

Finding clean, sustainable alternatives to petroleum-derived solvents and chemicals is a matter of increasing urgency in the chemical industry worldwide. Concerns over health, safety, economic and legal issues, together with a need to minimise the environmental impact of industrial processes have led to increased interest in developing new solvents, particularly those derived from biomass. While a number of computer-aided organic synthesis tools have been developed to aid molecular design and synthetic planning over the past few decades, they have not found widespread application in commodity chemical synthesis.

Traditional synthesis planning combines specialist chemical knowledge and careful literature analysis. GRASS, short for GeneratoR of Agro-based Sustainable Solvents, the software developed by Jean-Marie Aubry at the University of Lille Nord de France and co-workers, challenges this tradition and provides a wholly green chemistry-focussed approach to solvent design on an industrial scale.

Read the full article in Chemistry World»

Read the original journal article in Green Chemistry:
In silico design of bio-based commodity chemicals: application to itaconic acid based solvents
Laurianne Moity, Valérie Molinier, Adrien Benazzouz, René Barone, Philippe Marion and Jean-Marie Aubry  
Green Chem., 2013, DOI: 10.1039/C3GC41442F, Paper