Week 4: Green Chemistry

Catalyst of the Week

Chlorine free radicals are known catalysts that break down ozone in the atmosphere. These radicals are formed when UV radiation contacts chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs). A positive catalyst increases the rate of a chemical reaction by lowering the activation energy of the reaction.  A negative catalyst decreases the rate of a chemical reaction by making it less likely to occur. Chlorine free radicals- although having a negative effect on the environment, are considered a positive catalyst because they speed up the rate at which ozone breaks down.

Green Chemistry as a Social Movement

I am super pleased about the concept of major American companies becoming more green-friendly- even if their motivation is to avoid lawsuits, stay within new regulations, and meet consumer demands. It’s like a bad baby- even if his motivation to be well behaved is to avoid punishment- mom is still glad he’s behaving. The human race has been accused by some of being like a virus, and I think a large part of the accusation comes from the fact that we feed off our host the Earth, while being an unhealthy presence on her surface, much like a virus that feeds off a host by making her sick. Now I could go into the genetic mutations to human D.N.A. responsible for a kind of emotional entropy that pollutes the inner geography of the human experience, but to keep this topic to chemistry, I think the accusation of humanity being like a virus comes largely from the toxic chemicals we have produced that are responsible for destroying much of this beautiful planet.

When you think of how big the Earth is, it seems like quite the opposite of a grand accomplishment to have successfully destroyed much of the atmosphere and land masses on this planet (most notably the rainforests), most of which happened as a result of the Industrial Revolution, which was not that long ago. To think how we have polluted the planet just since the 1900s is mind-boggling. If only we had known about Green Chemistry and foreseen the effects of our toxic pollutants on the Earth before we destroyed our atmosphere, we would have no need for a Green Chemistry movement because we would have been in accordance with the Earth the whole time. My personal glee as a result of this movement derives from a gratitude that there are affordable shampoos, conditioners, and lipsticks now available that don’t possess xeno-estrogens which mimic estrogrens in the body and have caused a lot of female reproductive problems we have seen in recent and current generations.

Atom Economy

Barry Trost developed the concept of the atom economy, which is an exploration of the efficiency of a reaction by calculating the mass of reactants before and after the experiment. It was a term coined to bring awareness to the amount of side-products of a reaction that often end up as toxic, unwanted, and never used. Because of this, Atom Economy spawns a necessary look at the principles of Green Chemistry in how to lessen the negative effect/amount of these side-products using principles that minimize waste products. For example, a new method of making Ibuprofen was found that significantly improved the atom economy of its production. In the initial way of making Ibuprofen, only about 40% of the mass of its initial components was saved in the final product, and the other 60% was waste. That 60% waste amounted to about 35 million pounds. A new way of making Ibuprofen was found that increased the atom economy to 77%, meaning only 23% of the final mass was waste.