Green Chemistry Blog

Inexpensive ionic liquids: Process intensification the key to affordability

04 Jun 2014

James Sherwood is a guest web-writer for Green Chemistry. James is a research associate in the Green Chemistry Centre of Excellence at the University of York. His interests range from the certification and application of bio-based products, to the understanding of solvent effects in organic synthesis.

Green Chemistry DOI: 10.1039/C4GC00016A Ionic liquids have been touted as green solvents since even before the definition of green chemistry was presented in Anastas and Warner’s seminal text. Academic research on ionic liquids, across many varied applications, is a strong and still growing area of interest. Despite this, the commercialisation of ionic liquid products, and their utilisation as solvents in manufacturing processes, has been limited because of their high costs.

In this latest work from Jason Hallett and colleagues from Imperial College London, the economic feasibility of two ionic liquids synthesized by acid–base neutralization has been assessed. It was found that process intensification dramatically reduces the end cost of these ionic liquids, and is recommended in this latest work as a means of reducing the cost of ionic liquids so that their potential in commercial applications may be realised.

The prices of triethylammonium hydrogen sulfate and 1-methylimidazolium hydrogen sulfate produced with optimised manufacturing methods are estimated to be as little as $1.24 kg⁻¹ and $2.96 kg⁻¹ respectively, which are largely dictated by the raw material costs. These prices are similar to conventional organic solvents such as acetone, while at present typical ionic liquid prices can be two orders of magnitude greater than this. The authors conclude that more effort should be dedicated to developing new ionic liquids that can be synthesised from affordable raw materials in very few steps.

Inexpensive ionic liquids: [HSO₄]⁻-based solvent production at bulk scale

L. Chen et al., Green Chem., 2014. DOI: 10.1039/C4GC00016A

http://pubs.rsc.org/en/content/articlelanding/2014/gc/c4gc00016a#!divAbstract

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Flue gas reclaimed as polymer feedstock

30 May 2014

By Kate Bandoo, Publishing Assistant.

Jennifer Newton writes about a Green Chemistry article in Chemistry World

The first systematic environmental assessment of an industrial plant that produces polyols from carbon dioxide has revealed that they significantly reduce both carbon dioxide emissions and the demand on fossil fuel reserves.

Polyols are the major component of polyurethanes, which make up foams or thermoplastic urethanes in a wide range of applications from mattresses to ski boots. Most polymers are made from fossil fuel-based feedstocks.

To read more on this article please visit Chemistry World.

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

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10th International Conference on Renewable Resources & Biorefineries

29 May 2014

By Jessica Cocker, Development Editor.

The 10th International Conference on Renewable Resources and Biorefineries is taking place on June 4-6, 2014 in Valladoid, Spain. A range of delegates from university, industry, governmental and non-governmental organizations and venture capital providers will present their views on industrial biotechnology, sustainable (green) chemistry and agricultural policy related to the use of renewable raw materials for non-food applications and energy supply.

The conference further aims to provide an overview of the scientific, technical, economic, environmental and social issues of renewable resources and biorefineries to give an impetus to the biobased economy and to present new developments in this area. The conference will provide a forum for leading political, corporate, academic and financial people to discuss recent developments and set up collaborations.

The three day international conference will consist of plenary lectures and oral presentations by international experts, a poster session and an exhibition. Companies and research organizations are also offered the opportunity to organize a satellite symposium. Around 400 international participants are expected from over 30 countries.

A great line-up of speakers has been confirmed, with the following as just a small selection:

Prof. Richard Wool, University of Delaware, USA
Prof. Karen Wilson, European Bioenergy Research Institute
Prof. Eric Beckmann, University of Pittsburgh, USA
Prof. Yusuf Christi, Massey University, New Zealand

There’s still time to sign up with pre-registration closing on June 1, 2014.

Visit the website for more information and to register: www.rrbconference.com/rrb-10-welcome

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Freeze-dried cells make better biocatalysts

28 May 2014

By Kate Bandoo, Publishing Assistant.

Jenifer Mizen writes about a Green Chemistry article in Chemistry World

A biocatalytic cascade using mashed-up cells has overcome extraction and solubility problems associated with using enzymes in chemical syntheses.

Enzymes are excellent catalysts for making chiral molecules. One-pot reactions under mild conditions are often possible with more than one catalyst, allowing multi-step syntheses in one go. But if enzymes are used as catalysts, they have to be extracted and purified, and expensive co-factors often need to be added. There are also solubility issues: enzymes are usually most active in buffers, but many of their substrates are hydrophobic, limiting the productivity of the biotransformation because the substrate won’t dissolve in aqueous buffers.

It is thought that the cell envelope helps to stabilise the enzymes in organic solvent

To read more on this article please visit Chemistry World.

A two-step biocatalytic cascade in micro-aqueous medium: using whole cells to obtain high concentrations of a vicinal diol
Andre Jakoblinnerta and Dörte Rother
Green Chem., 2014, Advance Article
DOI: 10.1039/C4GC00010B

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HOT articles in Green Chemistry

06 May 2014

By Katherine Dunn, Publishing Assistant.

Take a look at the latest selection, which are free for you to read for the next four weeks! Graphical abstract: Preparation of 2,3-dihydroquinazolin-4(1H)-one derivatives in aqueous media with β-cyclodextrin-SO3H as a recyclable catalyst

Polyethylene glycol (PEG) as a reusable solvent medium for an asymmetric organocatalytic Michael addition. Application to the synthesis of bioactive compounds
Karla S. Feu, Alexander F. de la Torre, Sandrina Silva, Marco A. F. de Moraes Junior, Arlene G. Corrêa and Márcio W. Paixão
Green Chem., 2014, Advance Article
DOI: 10.1039/C4GC00098F, Paper

Pressurized hot water flow-through extraction system scale up from the laboratory to the pilot scale
P. O. Kilpeläinen, S. S. Hautala, O. O. Byman, L. J. Tanner, R. I. Korpinen, M. K-J. Lillandt, A. V. Pranovich, V. H. Kitunen, S. M. Willför and H. S. Ilvesniemi
Green Chem., 2014, Advance Article
DOI: 10.1039/C4GC00274A, Paper

A one-pot biosynthesis of reduced graphene oxide (RGO)/bacterial cellulose (BC) nanocomposites
Avinav G. Nandgaonkar, Qingqing Wang, Kun Fu, Wendy E. Krause, Qufu Wei, Russel Gorga and Lucian A. Lucia
Green Chem., 2014, Advance Article
DOI: 10.1039/C4GC00264D, Paper

Preparation of 2,3-dihydroquinazolin-4(1H)-one derivatives in aqueous media with β-cyclodextrin-SO3H as a recyclable catalyst
Jian Wu, Xianli Du, Juan Ma, Yuping Zhang, Qingcai Shi, Lijun Luo, Baoan Song, Song Yang and Deyu Hu
Green Chem., 2014, Advance Article
DOI: 10.1039/C3GC42400F, Paper

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HOT articles in Green Chemistry

22 Apr 2014

By Katherine Dunn, Publishing Assistant.

Take a look at the latest selection, which are free for you to read for the next four weeks! Graphical abstract: Laccase/TEMPO-mediated system for the thermodynamically disfavored oxidation of 2,2-dihalo-1-phenylethanol derivatives

Laccase/TEMPO-mediated system for the thermodynamically disfavored oxidation of 2,2-dihalo-1-phenylethanol derivatives
Kinga Kędziora, Alba Díaz-Rodríguez, Iván Lavandera, Vicente Gotor-Fernández and Vicente Gotor
Green Chem., 2014, Advance Article
DOI: 10.1039/C4GC00066H, Communication

Guidelines based on life cycle assessment for solvent selection during the process design and evaluation of treatment alternatives
Antonio Amelio, Giuseppe Genduso, Steven Vreysen, Patricia Luis and Bart Van der Bruggen
Green Chem., 2014, Advance Article
DOI: 10.1039/C3GC42513D, Paper

Multicomponent reactions: advanced tools for sustainable organic synthesis
Răzvan C. Cioc, Eelco Ruijter and Romano V. A. Orru
Green Chem., 2014, Advance Article
DOI: 10.1039/C4GC00013G, Perspective

Aerobic homocoupling of arylboronic acids catalysed by copper terephthalate metal–organic frameworks
Pillaiyar Puthiaraj, Palaniswamy Suresh and Kasi Pitchumani
Green Chem., 2014, Advance Article
DOI: 10.1039/C4GC00056K, Paper

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2nd International Green Catalysis Symposium

17 Apr 2014

By Katie Bayliss, Development Editor.

Congratulations to Enguerrand Blondiaux and Thomas Dombray, who were awarded Royal Society of Chemistry poster prizes at the 2^nd International Green Catalysis Symposium.

Green Chemistry and Catalysis Science and Technology were pleased to sponsor the Symposium, which took place on April 2-4th 2014 in Rennes, France with the aim of presenting to academic and industry researchers the recent developments in the fast growing field of green catalysis.

The Symposium was attended by Green Chemistry Editorial Board member Professor Shu Kobayashi, who presented the Green Chemistry poster prize to Enguerrand Blondiaux (CEA/IRAMIS/SIS2M/CNRS) for his poster entitled ‘Metal-free reduction of carbon dioxide using hydroboranes’.

: Prof Shu Kobayashi presents the Green Chemistry poster prize to Enguerrand Blondiaux

Thomas Dombray (University of Rennes) was awarded a Catalysis Science & Technology poster prize for his poster ‘Cobalt carbonyl catalyzed hydrosilylation of amides’. His prize was presented by Catalysis Science & Technology Editorial Board member Dr Christian Bruneau.

: Thomas Dombray receives a Catalysis Science & Technology poster prize from Dr Christian Bruneau

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Seeing the fuel for the trees

11 Apr 2014

By James Sherwood.

The European Commission has established a target for EU member states to obtain 20% of their energy from renewable sources by the year 2020. Although production of electricity from solar energy and hydropower are crucial technologies in achieving this goal, liquid hydrocarbon fuels are seemingly irreplaceable in certain heavy transportation sectors (specifically sea freight and aviation).

Direct thermocatalytic transformation of pine wood into low oxygenated biofuel

Scientific advances are now being made in the use of non-food crops to produce liquid hydrocarbon fuels, complementing the established oxygenated biofuels made of ethanol and bio-diesel. The latest research demonstrates that pine wood can be successfully converted into a mixture of liquid hydrocarbons. The resulting fuel has a similar calorific value to diesel, and contains less than 5% oxygen.

The necessary catalyst is made through a simple wet impregnation technique to give copper and ruthenium supported on phosphotungstic acid, which is then calcined. The transformation of the lignocellulosic biomass is conducted under hydrogen at an elevated temperature to produce the liquid fuel (30 wt%), which separates from an aqueous phase and any residual solid. The organic liquid was found to contain a number of mostly cyclic aliphatic hydrocarbons and also aromatic compounds, and thus is an attractive option as a next generation biofuel.

Direct thermocatalytic transformation of pine wood into low oxygenated biofuel
Walid Al Maksoud, Cherif Larabi, Anthony Garron, Kai C. Szeto, Jean J. Walter and Catherine C. Santini
Green Chem., 2014, Advance Article, DOI: 10.1039/C3GC42596G

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Green Chemistry Issue 4 of 2014 now online!

08 Apr 2014

By Hannah Porter, Publishing Assistant.

Issue 4 of Green Chemistry is a part-themed issue on ‘Sustainable polymers: reduced environmental impact, renewable raw materials and catalysis’. Guest Editor Professor Michael Meier (Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, Germany) introduces the issue in his Editorial.

This special issue is being published in collaboration with our sister journal Polymer Chemistry who will soon be publishing their issue on ‘Sustainable polymers: replacing polymers derived from fossil fuels’ Guest Edited by Stephen A. Miller (University of Florida, USA). The two issues will be collated online – look out for the full ‘Sustainable Polymers’ collection later this month on our Themed Collections tab.

The outside front cover features the communication “Marine-degradable polylactic acid” by Ryan T. Martin, Ludmila P. Camargo and Stephen A. Miller.

Issue 4 contains a number of excellent Perspective articles, Critical and Tutorial Reviews:

Towards sustainable polymer chemistry with homogeneous metal-based catalysts
Kristin Schröder, Krzysztof Matyjaszewski, Kevin J. T. Noonan and Robert T. Mathers

Hydrogen-bonding organocatalysts for ring-opening polymerization
Coralie Thomas and Brigitte Bibal

Matrices from vegetable oils, cashew nut shell liquid, and other relevant systems for biocomposite applications
Rafael L. Quirino, Thomas F. Garrison and Michael R. Kessler

Renewable terephthalate polyesters from carbohydrate-based bicyclic monomers
Sebastián Muñoz-Guerra, Cristina Lavilla, Cristina Japu and Antxon Martínez de Ilarduya

The use of lipases as biocatalysts for the epoxidation of fatty acids and phenolic compounds
Chahinez Aouf, Erwann Durand, Jérôme Lecomte, Maria-Cruz Figueroa-Espinoza, Eric Dubreucq, Hélène Fulcrand and Pierre Villeneuve

“Water at elevated temperatures (WET): reactant, catalyst, and solvent in the selective hydrolysis of protecting groups” is the paper highlighted on the inside front cover by Wilmarie Medina-Ramos, Mike A. Mojica, Elizabeth D. Cope, Ryan J. Hart, Pamela Pollet, Charles A. Eckert and Charles L. Liotta

Perspective articles, Critical and Tutorial Reviews from Issue 4:

Hydroxymethylfurfural production from bioresources: past, present and future
Siew Ping Teong, Guangshun Yi and Yugen Zhang

Journey on greener pathways: from the use of alternate energy inputs and benign reaction media to sustainable applications of nano-catalysts in synthesis and environmental remediation
Rajender S. Varma

Carbonylation in microflow: close encounters of CO and reactive species
Takahide Fukuyama, Takenori Totoki and Ilhyong Ryu

Mixing ionic liquids – “simple mixtures” or “double salts”?
Gregory Chatel, Jorge F. B. Pereira, Varun Debbeti, Hui Wang and Robin D. Rogers

Heterocycle construction using the biomass-derived building block itaconic acid
Alexandra M. Medway and Jonathan Sperry

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

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Hot papers in Green Chemistry

07 Apr 2014

By Bethany Johnson.

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

Water at elevated temperatures (WET): reactant, catalyst, and solvent in the selective hydrolysis of protecting groups
Wilmarie Medina-Ramos, Mike A. Mojica, Elizabeth D. Cope, Ryan J. Hart, Pamela Pollet, Charles A. Eckert and Charles L. Liotta
Green Chem., 2014, Advance Article, DOI: 10.1039/C3GC42569J

Laccase/TEMPO-mediated system for the thermodynamically disfavored oxidation of 2,2-dihalo-1-phenylethanol derivatives
Kinga Kędziora, Alba Diaz-Rodriguez, Iván Lavandera, Vicente Gotor-Fernández and Vicente Gotor
Green Chem., 2014, Accepted Manuscript, DOI: 10.1039/C4GC00066H

Multicomponent Reactions: Advanced Tools for Sustainable Organic Synthesis
Razvan Cioc, E. Ruijter and Romano Orru
Green Chem., 2014, Accepted Manuscript, DOI: 10.1039/C4GC00013G

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

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Green Chemistry Blog

Inexpensive ionic liquids: Process intensification the key to affordability

Inexpensive ionic liquids: [HSO₄]⁻-based solvent production at bulk scale

Flue gas reclaimed as polymer feedstock

10th International Conference on Renewable Resources & Biorefineries

Freeze-dried cells make better biocatalysts

HOT articles in Green Chemistry

HOT articles in Green Chemistry

2nd International Green Catalysis Symposium

Seeing the fuel for the trees

Green Chemistry Issue 4 of 2014 now online!

Hot papers in Green Chemistry

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