GREEN CHEMISTRY

Also known as sustainable chemistry. It involves designing chemical products and processes that
reduce or eliminates the use or generates substances that are hazardous to the living organisms and
the environment.

There are twelve principles of Green Chemistry:

1) Prevent Waste: chemical processes should design to produce as little hazardous waste.

2) Maximize Atom Economy: The methods used for the synthesis should use up as many of the
materials used in the process as possible and incorporate those into the required plant.

3) Design less hazardous chemical synthesis: the harm of the reactants, products and catalyst
to the environment and life should be minimized.

4) Design safer chemicals and products: All new products should be designed to be safer. That
is they should have minimum toxicity.

5) Use safer solvents and auxiliaries: Many chemical processes use harmful substances in
separation techniques and are hazardous and lead to considerable waste. The use of these
substances should be minimize or eliminated.

6) Increase energy efficiency: Chemical processes should be designed to use the minimum
amount of energy.

7) Use Renewable Materials (feedstocks): Instead of using depleting natural resources, use
renewable materials and feedstocks.

8) Reduce derivates: Reduce the use of additional chemicals or additional steps.

Derivatisation involves temporarily modifying physical and chemical process, this should be
avoid or minimize.

9) Use catalysts: Catalysts are not used up in reaction since they do not take part in reaction
itself. Catalysts cause reaction to occur faster, reduce the temperature for the reaction to
take place which saves energy.

10) Design for degradation: Product should be designed so that they break down in the
environment to form harmless substances.

11) Monitor in real-time to prevent pollution

12) Minimize the potential for accidents.

 METALS
Metals are elements that are found mainly in group 1 (alkali metals), group 2 (Alkaline Earth), and
group three of the periodic table. The atoms of most metals have 1, 2, or 3 valence electrons.

They are two properties of metals:

- Physical Properties:
1) Shiny in appearance.
2) Soronous
3) Good conductors of electricity and heat.
4) High melting and boiling point.
5) Metals are solid at room temperature.
6) Malleable: - is the ability for it to be hammered or beaten into shape.
7) Ductile: - drawn into wires.

- Chemical Properties:
1) Metals reacts with oxygen to form a metal oxide.
2) Metals reacts with an acid to form a salt and hydrogen.
3) A metal reacts with water to form a metal hydroxide.

Examples: -
(i) Calcium reacts with oxygen to form calcium oxide.
2 Ca(s) +O(2) →2 CaO(s)
(g)

(ii) Iron reacts with hydrochloric Acid to form iron (II) chloride and hydrogen.
Fe(s) +2 HCl(aq ) → Fe Cl (2) + H (2)
(aq ) (g)

(iii) Magnesium reacts with water to form magnesium hydroxide and hydrogen.
Mg(s )+ 2 H 2 O(l) → Mg ¿

Extraction of metals from their ores

Silver, gold and other unreactive metals can be mined directly from the Earth’s crust, where they
occur in their free element state. Most metals are found combined with other elements in impure
iconic compounds known as ores.

During extraction from its ore, the metal cations are discharged to form atoms by gaining electrons.

Choosing the Method of Extraction

1. Metals high in the reactivity series (Aluminum and above) are extracted by electrolysis of the
molten. Electrolysis is a powerful method, but it uses a lot of energy.

2. Metals lower in the series (Zinc and below) are extracted by heat in their ores with a
reducing agent such as Carbon, Carbon monoxide or Hydrogen.
Extraction of Iron

The raw materials for making iron are iron ore (can be hematite or magnetite), coke (Carbon),
limestone (CaCO3) and air. The main ores which is iron is extracted from are hematite (impure Iron
(iii) oxide) and magnetite (impure Iron (ii, iii) oxide).

The process of extraction of iron takes place in a blast furnace.

The Extraction Process

1) A mixture of iron ore, limestone and coke is added through the top of the furnace.
2) Hot air is blown in through the bottom of the surface
3) At the bottom of the surface the coke burns in the hot air forming carbon dioxide.
The temperature at the bottom of the surface is about 1900C.
4) In the middle of the furnace the carbon dioxide that was produced at the bottom of the
furnace reacts with more coke to form carbon monoxide. The carbon monoxide then rises
further up the surface
5) In the upper part of the furnace the carbon monoxide reduces the iron ores to iron.

Formulas:
Fe3 O4 + 4 CO (g) → 3 Fe(l )+ 4 CO (2)
(s ) ( g)

OR
Fe2 O3 +3 CO(g ) → 2 Fe(l) +3 CO(2)
( s) (g)

Iron ore contains a lot of impurities mainly silicon dioxide (sand) which would eventually
build up and clog the blast furnace. Limestone is added to remove the silicon dioxide.

Extraction of Aluminum

The main ore from which aluminum is extracted is known as bauxite, an impure hydrated aluminum
oxide. After the bauxite has being mined it is purified to form pure and anhydrous aluminum oxide
which is called alumina (Al2O3).

The electrolysis of alumina takes place in an electrolytic cell that is lined with carbon (graphite).

The carbon acts as a negative cathode in the electrolysis process.

The Extraction Process

 1) The pure alumina is dissolved in molten cryolite at about 950 C. Cryolite is sodium aluminum
fluoride (Na3AlF6).
N.B. The cryolite is used to lower the melting point of alumina so that it can be molten
easily.
2) The molten cryolite or the alumina is electrolyzed in the electrolytic cell.

At the cathode the aluminum iron moves towards the cathode where they are reduce to
aluminum. This molten aluminum sinks to the bottom of the cell and is tapped off.

At the cathode
Al3+  Al
+3 0
Al3+ + 3e-  Al

The oxide ion moves towards the anode where they are oxidized to form oxygen gas.

Uses of Metals and their alloys

An alloy is a mixture of metals. For example: brass and steel.

 Aluminum

Aluminum is a useful metal because it has a thin layer of aluminum oxide on its surface which adhere
to the metal and makes it very resistant to “corrodes”. Aluminum is a good conductor of electricity
which enables to to be used in overhead power cable, for this sad reason aluminum is used to make
sauce pans.

Aluminum has the disadvantage that is not the strongest of metals.

 Lead

One of the first metals to be discovered is lead. The largest use of lead is in lead acid batteries. This is
because lead is highly resistance to corrosion and conducts electricity. In addition lead is used as a
radiation shield around x-ray equipment.

 Iron

Iron is the most widely used of all metals because of its high abundance, lost cost and high strength.
Pure is normally soft, it is usually harden by alloying it with carbon to form steel.

Alloy and their uses

- Duralumin: The composition about 94% aluminum, 4% copper with small amount of magnesium
and manganese. It is used in the construction of aircraft and to make precision tools.

- Magnalium: The composition about 95% aluminium and 5% magnesium. It is used in the
construction of aircraft and automobile parts and scientific instruments. It is strong than
 aluminium, harder than aluminium lighter in weight than aluminium and more resistance to
corrosion than aluminium.

Iron Alloy

There are three (3) different types of steel:

- Mild steel
Composition: Contains less than 0.25% carbon.
Uses: Construction of buildings, to make wires or nails.
Properties: Malleable and ductile.

-High Carbon steel

Composition: Contains between 0.25% and 1.5% of carbon.
Uses: To make cutting tools, drill bits, knives and nails.
Properties: Harder than mild steel, but more brittle.

-Stainless steel
Composition: Contains 70% iron, 20% chromium and 10% nickel.
Uses: Kitchen Items
Properties: It is much resistant to corrosion (rusting) than carbon steels also more expensive
than carbon steels.

-Cast steel
Composition: Contains about 4% carbon.
Uses: To make small castings, e.g. sauces pan and man-hole covers
Properties: Inexpensive and easy to cast into exact shapes. Hard but brittle than steel.

Lead Alloy

One common alloy of lead is called lead solder which consists of 60% lead and 40% tin. Solder is used
to join items together.
Group 1 metal nitrates  one gas (oxygen)

Other metal nitrates  two gases (oxygen & nitrogen dioxide)

Laboratory of oxygen

If dry oxygen is required, you would have to pass the gas through a U-Tube containing anhydrous
calcium chloride or calcium oxide or by bubbling it through a wash bottle containing concentrated
sulphuric acid which dries the gas.

The dry gas is then collected in a gas jar by upward displacement of air. A source of error is one
cannot determine when the jar is full.

Laboratory of carbon dioxide

Ammonia can be

Reactivity Series of Metal

Potassium (K)
Sodium (Na)
Calcium (Ca)
Magnesium (Mg)
Aluminium (Al)
Zinc (Zn)
Iron (Fe)
Lead (Pb)

Hydrogen (H)
Copper (Cu)
Silver (Ag)
Gold (Au)
Platinum (Pt)
Quantitative Analysis