What
is Green Chemistry?
In a recent book on the
subject, green chemistry was defined as "…the
utilization of a set of principles that reduces or
eliminates the use or generation of hazardous
substances in the design, manufacture, and
application of chemical products."1
Chemical synthesis which takes
into account environmental considerations in the
selection of reactants and reaction conditions is
growing in importance as both industrial and academic
researchers become aware of the environmental and
economic advantages of an environmentally benign or
"green" approach. The principles of a green
approach are not covered in traditional chemistry
courses, perhaps contributing to its slow growth as
an area of academic research.
To find out more about green
chemistry at Oregon, see our Green Chemistry Web Page.
Teaching Green
Chemistry in the Lab - the Story of CH337G
In 1998-99 a
green lab was offered as an alternative to the normal
organic lab sequence at the University of Oregon.
This two term sequence, taught by Jim Hutchison and
Ken Doxsee consisted of two sections with twelve
students each. Additionally, three teaching
assistants, Marvin Warner, Scott Reed, and Brad Wan
worked with the students in the lab and continue to
optimize and test new green laboratory experiments.
For the 1999-00 year, the green lab
will be expanded to a class of 30 students, to
further test the experiments, conduct monitoring of
waste production and air monitoring.
The goal in designing this
course was twofold. We sought to teach students the
core organic synthesis laboratory skills while
demonstrating, first hand, the benefits of an
approach that uses greener reagents, reaction
conditions and products. Our belief is that the
introduction of greener experiments will improve
safety, allow for the routine use of macroscale
techniques, and provides an ideal context for the
discussion of chemical safety.
One of the challenges in
developing this course was developing new laboratory
experiments, as there are very few examples in
current lab manuals. Our criteria for identifying
green experiments for this new curriculum were that
each experiment:
 |
Illustrates
green chemical concepts (e.g. recycling,
hazard reduction, solvent reduction) |
|
Teaches
modern reaction chemistry and techniques |
|
Complements
the lecture course and provides a platform
for discussion of environmental issues in the
classroom |
|
Can be
accomplished by students given the time (3
hours) and material constraints of a typical
student organic laboratory |
|
Is
adaptable to either macroscale or microscale
methods |
|
Uses
inexpensive, greener solvents and reagents |
|
Reduces
laboratory waste and hazards |
Each term of the
lab course consisted of 7 labs that were either
designed from scratch or modified from existing labs
to meet the above criteria.
To
Register for the 1999 Fall Term of Green Chemistry:
You
need to sign up for both the lab (Tuesday at 3:00
p.m.) and the lab lecture through DuckWeb.
CH
337g Organic Chemistry Lab, CRN# 11926, 14:00-14:50
MW
CH 337
+ Lab, CRN# 11931, 15:00-18:00 U
The
above info is from DuckHunt.
Green Resources
at the UO Library
Green Chemistry Magazine: 1Green
Chemistry; Theory and Practice, by Paul Anastas and
John Warner, Oxford University Press Oxford, 1998.
Green Chem
Info: http://janus.uoregon.edu/search/w?SEARCH=green+chemistry
Useful Links
for Students in CH337G:
- Kinetics
experiment data from 11/23/99
- Contacting
your instructors
- Handouts,
etc.
- Green
links
- Chemical
Databases on the Web
- U of O Science Library
- U of O Chemistry Department Home Page
06-Mar-2000
last updated by kristim@darkwing.uoregon.edu
|
