GREEN CHEMISTRY

From Green Chemistry and the Ten Commandments of

Sustainability, Stanley E. Manahan, ChemChar Research,
lnc., 2006
 1.1. Chemistry is Good
• AII matter is chemical; we are chemical
• The human body is a complex chemical factory
·��....

• Green Chemistrx seeks te present a body of chemical

----· knowledge from the most fundamental level within a
framework of the relationship of chemical science to
human bein9s, their surrowndings, and their environment.
• Green cfiemistry is ttíe practica of chemistry in a manner
that maximizes its benefits while eliminating or at least
greatly reducing its adverse impacts
 Good Things from Chemistry
• Pharmaceuticals that have improved health and
extended life
• Fertilizers that have greatly increased food
productivity
• Semiconctuctors tlíat llave made possible computers
and other módérn electronic élevices
-----
The Dowmside of Chemistry
• Pollutants
• Toxic substances
• Nonbiodegradable plastic containers
These have resulted in harm to the environment
 Major Categories of Chemistry
• lnorganic chemistry deals with materials composed
of most elements other than carbon (and includes a
few carbon compounds)
• Organic chemistry deals with carbon-containing
materials, rnost having carbon-carbon bonds
____
._ Physical chemistry_ ir:11Lolwes the uncterl�ing theory
and physical phenomena that explain chemical
processes
• Biochemistry is the cHemistry. of living processes
• Analytical chemistry is the identification and
quantification of chemical species, often at very low
leve Is
 The Old Attitude:
"By sensible definition any by-product of a chemical operation for
which there is no profitable use is a waste. The most convenient,
least expensive way of disposing of said waste-up the chimney or
down the river-is best."
From American Chemical Industry­
A History, W. Haynes Van Nostrand
Publishers, 1954