Green Chemistry 101: A Dozen Principles, and the DOZN Tool

Training the chemists of tomorrow—and today—to understand the impacts of the materials and chemical choices they make at the bench is key to improving safety, energy efficiency, and waste reduction in labs. I2SL’s Circular Economy for Labs Community of Practice (CoP) held a Green Chemistry 101 forum in May, where Amy Cannon of Beyond Benign explained the 12 principles of green chemistry and their practical applications; and Ettigounder (Samy) Ponnusamy of MilliporeSigma showed CoP members how to use the DOZN tool to select green chemistry alternatives.

Amy noted that green chemistry is getting greater recognition. The Royal Society of Chemistry and American Chemical Society are recognizing green chemistry principles and providing grant opportunities related to green chemistry. Green chemistry is not only the right thing to do but it is also good business, she said. Green chemistry keeps overall costs lower while prioritizing environmental and human health by reducing the number of solvents used and reducing the amounts of other hazardous materials.

Beyond Benign focuses on green chemistry education, since one educator sees hundreds of students each year where seeds of alternative chemical choices can be planted. With a growing demand in the chemicals market for researchers who are educated on sustainable practices, Amy said, not only is there an interest from the chemical industry, but students also want to learn about green chemistry practices.

Beyond Benign looks to create connections, bring scientists together, and foster collaborative working environments between these professionals, whether they are brand new to green chemistry or veterans. Educators can join Chemistry Connections (a community of people interested in green chemistry that meets virtually each month), attend partner webinars, and join the Green Chemistry Teaching and Learning Community.

Beyond Benign provides educators with green chemistry resources, professional development opportunities, and learning modules designed to fit into existing curriculums such as undergraduate organic or inorganic chemistry. Beyond Benign also encourages institutions to sign the Green Chemistry Commitment to begin, continue, or optimize green chemistry practices and teaching at their institutions that make up the globally accepted framework.

Samy of MilliporeSigma described the 12 principles of green chemistry: waste prevention, atom economy, use of renewable feedstocks, reducing unnecessary derivatives, less hazardous chemical syntheses, designing safer chemicals, prioritizing catalytic reagents over stoichiometric reagents, designing for degradation, safer solvents and auxiliaries, designing for energy efficiency, real-time analysis for pollution prevention, and inherently safer chemistry for accident prevention.

Samy described how MilliporeSigma’s DOZN quantitative green chemistry evaluator tool helps researchers find safer alternatives and re-engineer products. DOZN groups the 12 principles of green chemistry into three major categories: improved resource use, increased energy efficiency, and reduced human and environmental hazards. The tool provides a 0 to 100 aggregate score on the 12 principles, with 0 being the most desirable. DOZN tool users need to have the results of their product synthesis to obtain a score.

Samy provided an example of synthesizing β-amylase using green chemistry methods. The alternative method of extracting this enzyme from sweet potatoes resulted in 4,000 fewer pounds of potatoes being used, eliminated the need for an organic solvent, and eliminated the need for electricity to dissolve the raw materials into the solvent. The result was a 98 percent improvement to the original DOZN score and an aggregate score of 57.

Learn more about green chemistry and view the forum recording on the Circular Economy for Labs Community of Practice website.