Place of Green Solvents in Chemistry Practices

The use of solvents in the chemical industry and chemical-related industries is ubiquitous. In 1991, the production of the 25 most commonly used solvents was more than 26 million tons per year. According to EPCRA section 313 data, of the chemicals and chemical categories tracked by the program in 1994, five of the top 10 chemicals released or disposed of were solvents, and included methanol, toluene, xylene, methyl ethyl ketone, and dichloromethane. The total quantity of these chemicals released or disposed of was over 687 million pounds, which accounts for 27 per cent of the total quantity of TRI-listed chemicals released and disposed of in that year (Sullivan, 1997). 

As will happen, for example, with perfluorotriethylamine, a substance that is a good alternative reaction medium may be found for reactions and it can be easily recycled by simple extractive workup (Nakano and Kitazume, 1999). One of the most important issues in twenty-first century scientific society is the environmental problem. Thus far, there have been increasing demands for substitutes for toxic and/or harmful solvents like CH2CI2. Recently, inert and less toxic fluorous (perfluorinated) fluids have been recognized and are attracting attention as new alternative solvents (Fish, 1999). This fact shows the need to survey the scope and limitations of the utility of these liquids as alternative reaction media for reactions, which are of great current interest due to their unique reactivities and selectivities. 

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