Course objectives: to provide an overview of the principles of green chemistry, and a description of the different
approaches adopted by the chemists to decrease the environmental impact of the chemical transformations. A special
emphasis will be dedicated to the advanced methods of modern chemistry used in synthesis but also to the different
approaches used for optimizing the efficiency of chemical transformations (activation methods, energy saving… ). All
these aspects will be discussed within the frame of the REACh regulation that drastically modified the chemistry world
over the past decade.
1) Green Chemistry: a New-Yet-Old concept (Pioneering industrial concepts, new regulations, principles of green
chemistry and green chemical engineering
2) New tools for assessing the greenness of a chemical transformation: metrics, Life Cycle Analysis,
Toxicity/ecotoxicity…
3) Different approaches for limiting the environmental impact of chemical transformations:
! Catalysis (heterogeneous catalysis, phase transfer catalysis, homogeneous, biocatalysis,
organocatalysis… .);
! New solvents/reagents (reactions in water, ionic liquids, supercritical CO2 , fluorinated
solvents, new reagents… )
! New methods of activation (Microwaves, Ultrasounds, High Pressure and Photochemical
activations … . ).
All the classes will consist of seminars and practical examples will be discussed with the students.
Bibliography :
Green Chemistry, an introduction , Mike Lancaster RS.C paperbacks Cambridge 2002
Green Chemistry, P Anastas and TC Williamson , ACS Symposium series 626 Washington 1996
