(A) Introduction and Real-world Green Chemistry/Sustainability issues (8 lectures)
The essentials of green chemistry: Review of definitions, history of the development of Green Chemistry, adverse effects of chemicals on health and the environment, range of effects green chemists have to design against, sustainability as it relates to GC, ethical awareness, the definitions of Green Chemistry, 12 Principles of Green chemistry, the metrics of Green Chemistry,
Toxicity and the endocrine system: Introduction, the chemical enterprise, toxicity and chemicals used commercially, TiPED, the endocrine system, dose-response curves, endocrine disrupting chemicals, Green Chemistry solutions for eliminating EDCs, plastics and additives in plastics, microplastics.
Life Cycle analysis: Life Cycle Thinking and Life Cycle Assessment (LCA), Short LCA Examples, LCA and Green Chemistry, LCA examples and discussions: examples: i-STAT blood analyzing device, styrofoam take-away container, LCA software
(B) Green Organic synthesis (8 lectures)
Electrochemical SynthesisBasic principles behind electrochemistry. The mechanism of common synthetic electrochemistry reactions (anodic oxidations and cathodic reductions). Applications of electrochemistry in industry. Paired electrochemical synthesis with examples. Electroconversion of renewables
C-H functionalisationAdvantages over traditional functional group manipulations. Selective reaction of Csp2-H and Csp3-H bonds; radical and transition metal mediated processes, use of directing groups and auxiliaries.
Iridium catalysed C-H borylation processes in heteroaromatic C-H functionalisation and relevance to the pharmaceutical industry
Hydrogen auto-transfer (borrowing hydrogen)
Alternative to alkylating agents (R-Br, ROTs etc.)- using safe, non-toxic alcohols as ‘electrophiles’, facile transition metal-mediated functionalisation of amines (C-N bond formation) and C-C bond formation is possible. Applications of borrowing hydrogen methodology in pharmaceutical synthesis is discussed.
(C) Biocatalysts (5 lectures)
Review of biocatalysis, types of bioprocesses, advantages and challenges of using biocatalysts in green chemistry, the relationship between bioprocesses and renewable feedstocks, biocatalytic cascades, and other modern methods to enable and improve bioprocesses. A focus will be on engaging with real-world examples and data from the (bio)chemical literature and industry.
(D) Solar energy and alternative solvents (8 lectures)
Solar energy: Modern societies are heavily reliant on cheap fossil fuel energy for electricity generation and transportation. Dwindling fossil fuel reserves and environmental concerns associated with anthropogenic CO2 emissions from fossil fuel use motivate the development of alternative and sustainable renewable energy technologies. These lectures will explore the generation of energy from solar power sources following; Solar Power: Total solar energy available in practice, the diurnal problem capturing solar energy as thermal energy, Mechanism of solar cell operation and capturing solar energy as electrical energy (photovoltaics, dye sensitised solar cells, organic solar cells), The pros and cons of solar capture technologies will be considered within a sustainability context.
Alternative solvents: Solvents are a substantial component of chemical waste and can introduce hazards such as toxicity and flammability to chemical processes. However, the effect of solvents on the outcomes of chemical processes is often underappreciated in the search for alternatives. This lecture series will explore recent developments in the design and development of environmentally benign ‘smart’ solvents including concepts such as deep eutectic solvents and switchable polarity solvents.