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4th International IUPAC Conference on Green Chemistry

The  4th International IUPAC Conference on Green Chemistry (4th ICGC) was held in Foz do Iguaçu, Brazil between the 25-29th August 2012.  The conference focused on broad topics including benign synthesis/processes, green chemistry for energy production, chemicals from renewable resources, green engineering, education in green chemistry and engineering and policy. 

The conference was attended by the Editor, Sarah Ruthven and several members of the Journal’s Editorial and Advisory Boards spoke at the event, including Professor Buxing Han, Professor Paul Anastas, Professor James ClarkProfessor Philip Jessop, Professor Robin Rogers and Professor Roger Sheldon

The Green Chemistry poster prize which was presented by Professor Buxing Han was awarded to Tiago Artur da Silva from the University of Sao Paulo (pictured right). 

The full title of the poster was: AuPd nanoparticles: reusable magnetic responsive catalyst for green oxidation of alcohols; by Tiago Artur da Silva, Érico Teixeira-Neto, Liane Marcia Rossi.

Congratulations to Tiago on winning this prize.

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Meet our Authors: Francesca Kerton

Francesca Kerton is Associate Professor of Green Chemistry at the Memorial University of Newfoundland, Canada.  Her research into green chemistry encompasses three main themes: catalysis (including organometallic chemistry), solvent replacement (including supercritical fluids) and renewable feedstocks.  Fran kindly spared a few moments to chat to Green Chemistry

Who or what initially inspired you to become a chemist?

When I was very young, like many other children, I played in the garden making mud-pies and would attempt to make perfumes using the flowers there. I always liked to get my hands dirty and was a bit of a tomboy. At the root of this, I think I really wanted to understand how things worked, what they were made from and if you could turn them into something else. So in that regard, nature was my inspiration. When I was older and began secondary school, some of our first practical classes involved separations and paper chromatography. These also included looking at isolating chlorophyll and other natural products from plants. My school had excellent chemistry teachers, who would go the extra mile to explain things and challenge the bright students. Most importantly, they made what we were learning relevant to everyday life. I have very fond memories of my GCSE and A-Level Chemistry teachers, Ms. Jones and Mr. Woodstock, and they definitely inspired me to pursue a career in chemistry.

What was the motivation behind the research described in your recent Green Chemistry article?

I have been interested in ‘green’ solvents for sometime and water, ionic liquids and carbon dioxide have all been used in my group recently. I relocated to Newfoundland in Canada from the UK in 2005. In the UK, I had been involved with the Green Chemistry Group at York and had just started to perform research using renewable feedstocks to make new materials and compounds. Historically, Newfoundland had a large fishing industry and it still has a vibrant fishing community, particularly in both catching and farming shellfish. I knew that this industry would produce a number of by-products and I was particularly interested in seeing whether we could add value to these. In particular, could chitin (the biopolymer in the shells of crustaceans) be depolymerized under green conditions and produce useful compounds? We also wanted to keep things cheap and simple, therefore, we decided to look at reactions of chitin and chitosan in water using commercially available catalysts. We found that the results with chitosan were not that different to those that had been obtained using cellulose as a feedstock, namely, we obtained levulinic acid and 5-hydroxymethylfurfural as the primary products (Green Chemistry, 2012, 14, 1480-1487).  This gives me some hope that ocean-sourced biomass can be used as a feedstock in future biorefineries alongside land-sourced materials.

What do you see as the main challenges facing research in this area?

Industrial implementation of new, green ideas is of course important for the success of this field. However, this could be helped if more industries were a little more transparent and made us aware of their real problems. I think the ACS GCI pharmaceutical roundtable has helped green chemists at universities focus their attention on real rather than imagined problems. It would be great to see this approach extended to other industries including those where perhaps the beneficial role that green chemistry could play is perhaps less obvious e.g. food industry and mining industry. Also, collaboration across the sub-disciplines is really important for the development of this field.  There are some problems here, for example, the units and language used by chemical engineers is different to that used by chemists – so we need to make an effort and be patient with each other in order to solve important problems and achieve our goals.

Where do you see the field of Green Chemistry being in 5 or 10 years time?

I am an optimist and see the field growing enormously and becoming a global endeavor. I see more collaborations across disciplines and the establishment of worldwide research networks to tackle some of the key problems of sustainability such as universal access to a clean water supply.

And finally…

If you could not be a scientist, but could be anything else, what would you be?

I love music. At high school and as an undergraduate, I sang in a band. I don’t think I would have had what it takes to do that for a living but I would have liked to be involved behind the scenes in the music industry or be a promoter of shows and concerts or an event planner.

Take a look at a couple of Fran’s recent Green Chemistry articles – free to access until the 8th August:

Hydrolysis of chitosan to yield levulinic acid and 5-hydroxymethylfurfural in water under microwave irradiation, Khaled W. Omari, Jessica E. Besaw and Francesca M. Kerton, Green Chem., 2012, 14, 1480-1487

Synthesis of Pd nanocrystals in phosphonium ionic liquids without any external reducing agents, Hassan A. Kalviri and Francesca M. Kerton, Green Chem., 2011, 13, 681-686

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

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Green Chemistry issue 6 – now online!

The latest issue of Green Chemistry is now available online.

The front cover of this issue features work by João Coutinho and colleagues from the University of Aveiro, Portugal, who report investigations into the activity of the commercial enzyme Candida antarctica lipase B (CaLB) in aqueous solutions of ionic liquid.  The group observed that it was possible to induce superactivity in CaLB by using a long chain ionic liquid, 1-decyl-3-methylimidazolium chloride.  This increase in activity did not result from changes in the reaction mechanism or in the structure of the enzyme induced by the ionic liquid.  Instead, this phenomenon may be explained by the formation of microemulsions due to self-aggregation of the ionic liquid chain. 

Ionic liquids microemulsions: the key to Candida antarcticalipase B superactivity, Sónia P. M. Ventura, Luísa D. F. Santos, Jorge A. Saraiva and João A. P. Coutinho, Green Chem., 2012, 14, 1620-1625

The inside front cover of this issue highlights work by Alexis Bell and colleagues from the University of California, Berkeley, USA, who have developed a low energy intensive process for the production of diesel fuels from 5-(hydroxymethyl)furfural (HMF) and D-(–)-fructose.  Alcoholic solutions of these chemicals in the presence of solid acid catalysts produced a variety of potential bio-diesel candidates, with Amberlyst-15 and Dowex DR2030 catalysts showing exceptional reactivity and selectivity.  The distribution of products could be altered by varying the reaction conditions, i.e.by raising or lowering the reaction temperature.  Metal catalysed hydrogenation of HMF using platinum gave exclusive selectivity for reduction of the carbonyl functionality of HMF. 

Etherification and reductive etherification of 5-(hydroxymethyl)furfural: 5-(alkoxymethyl)furfurals and 2,5-bis(alkoxymethyl)furans as potential bio-diesel candidates, Madhesan Balakrishnan, Eric R. Sacia and Alexis T. Bell, Green Chem., 2012, 14, 1626-1634

These articles are free to access for 6 weeks!

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

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Green Solvents 2012 – Submission deadline extended to the 15th May!

The deadline for submission of abstracts for the ‘Green Solvents – Advanced Concepts for Solution Phase Chemistry and Processes‘ has been extended to the 15th May 2012.  This conference will be taking place between the 7th-10th October in picturesque Boppard, Germany.

This event is part of the biennial conference series “Green Solvents” and this year’s scientific focus lies on energy-efficient processes, selectivity control for waste prevention, alternative and efficient use of raw materials, activation and capture of CO2 and integrated reaction and separation processes.

Submit your abstract now!

For more information about the many renowned invited speakers, the topics and abstract submission, please visit: www.dechema.de/gsfs2012.

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2012 Berkeley Centre for Green Chemistry Conference

The BCGC 2nd Annual Conference in Green Chemistry: Collaborative Approaches and New Solutions is being held at the University of California Berkeley on the 3rd May 2012.

The Spring 2012 BCGC Green Chemistry meeting will build awareness of Green Chemistry’s growing role in education, research and outreach on and off campus.

The morning speakers will each speak to one of the Center’s core research or outreach themes: (1) Advancing legislation to incentivize greener solutions (2) Creating new catalysts for green chemical transformations, (3) Promoting greener materials selection with quantitative tools and metrics, and (4) Developing an ethics for decision making in green chemistry. 

During the afternoon session we will host two panel discussions highlighting two of our most integrated interdisciplinary initiatives at the BCGC: (1) How should we advance an interdisciplinary approach to education in green chemistry at UC Berkeley and other Universities? (2) What is the role of biobased chemicals and products in a greener market place?

Confirmed speakers at the event include: Debbie Raphael, California Department of Toxic Substances Control; John Hartwig, UC Berkeley Department of Chemistry; Lauren Heine, Cleaner Production Action; John Warner, Warner Babcock Institute for Green Chemistry; Bill Tolman, University of Minnesota Department of Chemistry; Roger McFadden, Staples, Steve Hahn, Dow Chemical and Joan Blades, Founder of MoveOn.org and MomsRising.org.

Click here to find out more…

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RSC US Roadshows 2012 – Week 1: California

As week 1 of the RSC US Raodshows 2012 begins, look out for Green Chemistry Editor Sarah Ruthven who will be visiting universities in California this week.

Starting on the 16th April, RSC Publishing will be touring the United States of America to share more than 170 years experience of publishing in the chemical sciences. Sixteen universities across the country will be hosting these one-day events, which are open to all members of the hosting institute.

Week 1 sees RSC Publishing visit four universities in California:

  • 16th AprilUniversity of California Irvine
  • 17th AprilUniversity of California Los Angeles
  • 18th AprilUniversity of California Santa Barbara
  • 20th AprilUniversity of California Berkeley

Click here to find out more…

Keep up to date with the RSC US roadshow by following the Royal Society of Chemistry on Facebook, or look out for #RSC2012 on Twitter!

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Green Chemistry issue 4 now online!

The latest issue of Green Chemistry is now available online!

The front cover highlights work by Milton Hearn and colleagues from Monash University, Australia, who investigated the oxidative N-demethylation of tropane alkaloids to their nortropane derivatives using hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) and an iron (III) tetraamido macrocycle catalyst.  The tertiary N-methylamine group is commonly found in a range of naturally occurring alkaloids, and modification of this tertiary amine group on tropane alkaloids alters their pharmacological properties. Previous methods for removing this methyl group tend to involve the use of large molar excess of expensive and/or toxic reagents.  The method reported by Hearn and his team uses a relatively benign oxidising reagent that can be easily decomposed to innocuous products once the reaction is complete.

One-pot oxidative N-demethylation of tropane alkaloids with hydrogen peroxide and a FeIII-TAML catalyst, Duy D. Do Pham, Geoffrey F. Kelso, Yuanzhong Yang and Milton T. W. Hearn, Green Chem., 2012, 14, 1189-1195

The inside front cover features work by Ana Rodríguez and co-workers from the University of Santiago de Compostela and the University of Vigo, Spain, who report on the duel role of surfactants in microalga cell lysis for the extraction of antioxidants.  The integrated process proposed uses non-ionic surfactants as cell disruptors and organic extractants of intracellular antioxidants.  The viability of the process was checked using real samples which yielded higher antioxidant activity than that provided by a traditional ultrasound-based method. 

On the double role of surfactants as microalga cell lysis agents and antioxidants extractants, G. Ulloa, C. Coutens, M. Sánchez, J. Sineiro, J. Fábregas, F. J. Deive, A. Rodríguez and M. J. Núñez, Green Chem., 2012, 14, 1044-1051

These articles will be free to access for 6 weeks!

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

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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

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

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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

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

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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

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

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