Green Chemistry and Biosurfactant Research - Biosurfactants: Research Trends and Applications - page 3

in the environment (Anastas and Kirchoff, 2002). The design of environmentally
benign products and processes may be guided by the 12 principles of green chemistry
(Anastas and Warner, 1998). These principles are a categorization of the fundamental
approaches taken to achieve the green chemistry goals of benign products and pro-
cesses and have been used as guidelines and design criteria by molecular scientists.
t welve P rinCiPles of G reen C hemistry
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
affect their desired function while minimizing their toxicity.
5. Safer Solvents and Auxiliaries: The use of auxiliary substances (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 renew-
able rather than depleting whenever technically and economically practicable.
8. Reduce Derivatives: Unnecessary derivatization (use of blocking groups,
protection/deprotection, and 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 stoi-
chiometric reagents.
10. Design for Degradation: Chemical products should be designed so that at
the end of their function, they break down into innocuous degradation prod-
ucts 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.
i illustrative C ase in G reen C hemistry
Argonne National Laboratory (ANL) Energy Systems Division won the 1998 presi-
dential Green Chemistry Challenge Award in the Alternative Solvents/Reaction cat-
egory. Potential substitution of green/bio-based solvents is foreseen for up to 80% of