Principles of Green Chemistry and Examples

The 12 principles are snmmarized below and examples of each principle are provided. 

Prevention It is better to prevent waste than to treat or clean up waste after it has been created. Prevention starts by avoiding the use or generation of hazardous substances. If hazardous materials are not produced, then treatment and disposal are not required. Moreover, extraordinary safety measures needed for the manufacture of hazardous materials are not reqnired, making the green product less costly to produce and easier to use. Why waste time, money, and effort to deal with these avoidable conseqnences Remember the qnote from Benjamin Franklin An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.  

Highlight 2.1 Definition and Calculations Dealing with the Application of Atom Economy 

Chemists are interested in assessing the reaction efficiency and, most of the time, use the percent yield of a reaction calculated as the ratio of the acmal yield of a specific product divided by the theoretical yield (based on the limiting reactant). This tool is used to quantify the efficiency of a chemical reaction and to compare the expected product quantity to the actual one. 

However, just looking at a percent yield does not tell the complete story. A percent yield calculation does not measure how efficiently the reactants have been used in generating the desired product and therefore does not take into account how much waste (toxic or benign) is created. 

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