Green+Chemistry

**Green Chemistry **

 * In recent years, a philosophy has been developed in chemistry and engineering to reduce the use and generation of hazardous substances. The twelve key principles underlying this philosophy are: **

__**The Twelve Principles of Green Chemistry**__ [5 ] **1. Prevention** It is better to prevent waste than to treat or clean up waste after it has been created. **2. Atom Economy** Synthetic methods should be designed to maximize the incorporation of all materials used in the process into the final product. **3. Less Hazardous Chemical Syntheses** Wherever practicable, synthetic methods should be designed to use and generate substances that possess little or no toxicity to human health and the environment. **4. Designing Safer Chemicals** Chemical products should be designed to effect their desired function while minimizing their toxicity. **5. Safer Solvents and Auxiliaries** The use of auxiliary substances (e.g., solvents, separation agents, etc.) should be made unnecessary wherever possible and innocuous when used. **6. Design for Energy Efficiency** Energy requirements of chemical processes should be recognized for their environmental and economic impacts and should be minimized. If possible, synthetic methods should be conducted at ambient temperature and pressure. **7. Use of Renewable Feedstocks** A raw material or feedstock should be renewable rather than depleting whenever technically and economically practicable. **8. Reduce Derivatives** Unnecessary derivatization (use of blocking groups, protection/ deprotection, temporary modification of physical/chemical processes) should be minimized or avoided if possible, because such steps require additional reagents and can generate waste. **9. Catalysis** Catalytic reagents (as selective as possible) are superior to stoichiometric reagents. **10. Design for Degradation** Chemical products should be designed so that at the end of their function they break down into innocuous degradation products and do not persist in the environment. **11. Real-time analysis for Pollution Prevention** Analytical methodologies need to be further developed to allow for real-time, in-process monitoring and control prior to the formation of hazardous substances. **12. Inherently Safer Chemistry for Accident Prevention** Substances and the form of a substance used in a chemical process should be chosen to minimize the potential for chemical accidents, including releases, explosions, and fires. 6]

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