Green Chemistry and the Anthrosphere

Green chemistry is defined as the practice of chemical science and manufacturing in a manner that is sustainable, safe, and nonpolluting, and it consumes minimum amounts of materials and energy while producing little or no waste material. The major aspects of green chanistry include the following  

Efficient use of matter with minimum production of wastes Catalysis for maximum efficiency in chemical processing Utilization of biological processes Maximization of renewable raw materials Green product design 

Minimization or elimination of solvents, use of water where possible Process intensification 

Several key parameters are calculated in quantifying green chanistry. As discussed in Section 14.9, one of these is atom economy, defined as the fraction of reactant material that actually ends up in the final product. The higher the atom economy—ideally 100%—the greener the process. Other important parameters include the E factor, which measures wastes (Section 14.9), and oxygen and hydrogen availability (Section 14.14). 

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