GCTLC Library

In this lesson, students will develop an evidence-based argument after investigating the product safety, performance, and cost of a variety of cleaning and disinfecting products designed to remove germs. Students will be introduced to principles of sustainable design, life-cycle thinking, and how to identify safer products for certifications.

Except where otherwise noted, this work by Saskia van ...

Students will compare the basis of the derivatives for different plastics in order to determine their expected carbon-14 content. They will then compare ratios of carbon-14 to carbon-12 in plastic samples and categorize the sample according to its percent bio-based composition.

Teacher Background Information: This lesson is more of a context design to be used with an existing nuclear chemistry ...

An aqueous Suzuki reaction is described which highlights the facile preparation of a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory (NSAID) drug analog under green conditions. While palladium-catalyzed cross-coupling reactions are common in most modern organic chemistry labs, they are often performed with hazardous solvents and large amounts of corrosive additives. Undertaken at the mid-undergraduate level ...

In this episode of Green Chem Essential, with host James Rea: Learn how – and why — a motivated student and two professors at CU Boulder successfully worked to get green chemistry into the curriculum at their school.

Guests in this episode include; Brinn McDowell, Dr. Kathryn Ramirez Aguilar and Dr. Matthew E Wise

As landfills begin reaching their capacity and waste generation skyrockets, the world is being forced to take a harder look at recycling. Because it is currently estimated that plastics make up a quarter of landfill space, the recycling of plastics is a hot, current topic.

In this lab, a common plastic, polyethylene terephthalate (PET), will be depolymerized by a simple hydrolysis reaction ...

For more than 10 years now, the University of Toronto's Green Chemistry Initiative has been a wonderfully creative incubator for green chemistry learning on that campus. In this episode of Green Chem Essential, with host James Rea: Hear how -- and why -- this student-led group works to engage their peers in the science of sustainability.

The interview includes discussion about their annual spring ...

This module serves as a good first introduction to toxicology. In the first part of the module, students will learn and understand: the history of toxicology and its underlying principles; the progression of toxicology as a science; the development of regulatory agencies; key case studies that developed the field; and the paradox of uncertainty. In the second part of the module, students will ...

This module is an introduction to understanding the principles of hazard and risk. The lectures are designed with a “choose your own adventure” format: you can take any slides and use them in any order to build your lecture! Using these materials, students will understand the basic concepts of hazard, exposure, and risk; be able to perform a simple chemical hazard assessment; be able to compare ...

This module is an introduction to toxicokinetics and toxicodynamics. The module is split into five lectures addressing: absorption, distribution, biotransformation, excretion, and toxicodynamics. Using these materials, students will be able to: explain and describe ADME; learn introductory biochemistry, chemistry, and anatomy to explain ADME; and explain and describe toxicodynamics. The lecture ...

This module gives an overview of the main reaction mechanisms seen in toxicology studies. Students will learn primarily about the main electrophilic reactions that bind toxicants to proteins, in addition to a brief introduction to reactive oxygen species and radical reactions. This module pairs well with Module 11 – Structure-Activity Relationships, and these lecture slides are also included for ...

This module is a good introduction to metal toxicity. Students will learn about the toxicity of metals in the body, metal pollution, the difference between metals and metalloids, mechanisms of heavy metal toxicity, and factors that affect metal toxicity. These lecture slides are heavily case-study based and provide an applied outlook on the chemistry with reference to many global incidents and ...

This module contains an introduction to the concepts of fate, persistence, and biodegradation. Students will learn about: classes of molecules that persist in the environment; different types of degradation and their critical role in the environment and society; and parameters that affect biodegradation rate. Part II of this module is a full case study entirely based on the Deepwater Horizon oil ...

This module serves as an introduction to the principles of environmental toxicity: air pollution, water pollution, and chemical transport and fate. Using these materials, students will learn examples of pollutants and their effects on human health and the environment through multiple case studies and in-class discussions. These lecture slides comprise mostly case studies and provide a good outlook ...

This module provides an introduction to ecotoxicology, an overview of exposure and thresholds, an overview of the main concepts and scales of ecotoxicology, and some applications of ecotoxicology. Using these materials, students will learn: the history of ecotoxicology; why ecotoxicology is important to sustainability; effects on levels of biological organization; relations to hazard and risk ...

This module provides an overview of computational methods to predict the toxicity of chemicals. Students will learn an updated overview of the latest methods that have been successfully applied to predict toxic effects of chemicals, in addition to understanding the outlook towards at the nexus of computational sciences and toxicology. Particular emphasis is placed on carbon-based toxicants ...

This module connects the structure of molecules to their activity in biological systems. Students will be able to: identify physicochemical properties related to ADME; identify and rationalize relationships between physiochemical properties and biological activity in different species; apply pre-screening tools for acute and chronic human and ecological endpoints based on physicochemical ...

Don’t have much time to prepare your lectures? Don’t know where to start with incorporating toxicology into existing class lectures or assignments? Not sure if you’re ready to adopt a full module? Do you just want access to the case studies, in-class assignments, homework assignments, and ChemToxTidbits slides? This folder contains all of these materials in a format easily accessible to you so ...

This is a poster of the 12 Principles of Green Chemistry. The poster can be printed out in varying sizes and is designed to be used as a teaching tool in a classroom, laboratory or manufacturing setting.

Please select the file below based on your audience location. For those in North America please use the MilliporeSigma file, for those outside North America please use the international Merck ...

The alkylation of aromatic compounds is a very important industrial process. Typically these alkylations are performed using strong Lewis acids like aluminum trichloride as catalysts. However, the use of these catalysts often requires an aqueous work-up to remove the aluminum and also leads to mixtures of products due to carbocation rearrangement.

By using graphite this greener alkylation ...

This laboratory activity focuses on the tie-dyeing process as a safer alternative to nucleophilic aromatic substitution (SNAr) reactions for an introductory organic chemistry laboratory. The simple and straightforward experiment provides students with an opportunity to gain practical experience in conducting a chemical reaction in a real-world context while applying concepts of design for ...

Because of the ubiquity of polymers, chemists are looking for ways to make polymers renewable, biodegradable, and with less waste. In this laboratory chemistry students will have the opportunity to make poly(aspartate), a polymer that fulfills all the abovementioned goals.

The synthesis of this condensation polymer starts by simply heating neat aspartic acid for two hours to form poly(succinimide ...

Green chemistry is an approach to practicing chemistry that strives to reduce or eliminate the use and generation of hazardous substances. This focus on safety and environmental responsibility must always refer to a baseline measure, meaning that reactions can never be “green” but instead can always be “greener”.

This lab provides a great example of a greener approach to teaching reduction ...

This exercise demonstrates the regioselectivity of substituted aromatic systems while reducing the amount and hazards of the waste produced by the class. Although typical iodinations involve either high amounts of derivatization (i.e., nitration, then reduction to aniline, formation of diazonium, then ionization) or use of hazardous/expensive reagents (iodine and mercury acetate, bis(pyridine ...

This experiment teaches students the concept of colligative properties using renewable, benign, and biodegradable materials. Rather than using conventional solvents with high cryoscopic constants (which are oftentimes aromatics), fatty acids are used to explore freezing-point depression. By monitoring the change in freezing points of solutions with varying solute concentrations, students will be ...

This demonstration shows students a long-lasting, chemiluminescent reaction in light sticks without the toxic solvents. The instructor must prepare the chemiluminescent reagent, divanillyl oxalate, in a one-step synthetic procedure or can have the students prepare the reagent as part of an organic chemistry experiment.

Solvents acceptable for the chemiluminescence reaction are ethyl acetate or ...

In this experiment, 5,10,15,20-tetraphenyl-21H,23H-porphyrin (H2TPP) is synthesized on the microscale using an optimized procedure with a research-grade microwave apparatus (CEM Discover). This experiment can also be extended to the para-substituted phenyl derivatives.

Metalloporphyrins, with an array of metals, can then be synthesized using greener routes including mechanochemical methods (with ...

This guidebook aims to improve lab users’ everyday practices to become more sustainable. Specifically, this guidebook provides practical suggestions on how to effectively use lab instruments and resources and how to acquire data. We provide advice to labs covering disciplines such as biology, chemistry, computational science, engineering, life sciences, materials sciences, medicine, pharmacy, and ...

This laboratory experiment features the palladium-catalyzed Heck synthesis of (E)-4-acetylcinnamic acid from 4-iodoacetophenone and acrylic acid by mid-level undergraduates. Traditional Heck reaction organic solvents (e.g. acetonitrile) and base (e.g. triethylamine) are replaced by water and sodium carbonate respectively. This approach introduces fundamentals of green chemistry (aqueous and ...

The mole is a very large number used to measure the number of very small objects in chemistry. Using the mole to describe the number of a macroscopic object is not practical.

Earth’s diameter (see link below)

How much rice does China grow? (see link below)

Green chemistry education is a fundamental tool for the achievement of a sustainable future at the molecular level. It allows the development of a scientific workforce and knowledgeable citizenry with the skills to choose, assess, and further design more benign processes for human health and the environment. In 2007, Dr Amy Cannon and Dr John Warner co-founded a non-profit organization known as ...

The transformation of ketones into esters using peroxy acids was first reported in 1899. Since then, the Baeyer-Villiger oxidation has found itself an integral part of the organic chemist's toolkit. This modified Baeyer-Villiger is a great example of how a classic reaction can be made significantly greener. By eliminating the solvent you can avoid the hazards associated with dichloromethane (the ...

This lab is intended to introduce students to the concepts of acids, bases, and pH. Students determine the best suitable natural indicators to test the pH of the various household products and substances.

This resource provides an overview of ways to discuss ocean acidification with high school students (14-16 years), including connecting increasing levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere with absorption by the oceans and the resulting increase in ocean pH. Topics include understanding pH as a logarithmic scale, the nature of acids (strong vs. weak), and connecting these topics to the U.N ...

This page through the Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC) website provides a collection of curriculum resources for high school-level students focused on the sustainable management of water. It includes a downloadable practical and simple microbiology experiment looking at the antimicrobial properties of halogens, as well as additional reading and information for putting water scarcity and management ...

In this laboratory experiment, students explore the use of an immobilized Ni[P(OEt)3]4H2SO4 catalyst system to study the isomerization of 1-octene to trans- and cis- 2-octene. Nafion-H+ is a solid acid ion exchange polymer that both activates the air-sensitive transition metal catalyst and immobilizes the cationic species that can be characterized by UV-vis spectroscopy within the polymer matrix ...

This article provides a rationale and stepwise process for evaluating and improving the "greenness" of an undergraduate organic chemistry laboratory curriculum. After emphasizing the educational value of sharing this process with students, effective risk assessment is discussed as an important tool for both evaluating and redesigning laboratory exercises. The greening process is illustrated by ...

The design and operation of a simple and inexpensive water recirculator is described, which can replace wasteful running water "tap-to-drain" applications such as providing cooling to Liebig-type (water jacket) condensers. The recirculator uses an inexpensive and easily acquired aquarium pump placed within a large plastic jar or bucket. Data is provided for the estimated water saved per hour ...

Schoolab is an innovation studio that pairs student teams with corporate partners to solve real-world business & design challenges. In the US, they run a program at the University of California Berkeley called "Deplastify the Planet."

Recently it became clear that the sustainable design solutions they were trying to create would benefit tremendously from taking their design thinking all the ...

Using biomimicry for ideas, scientists and engineers can create sustainable solutions for a vast range of problems. Scientists consider how plants and animals create a material or perform a process, and engineers then use that information to create inventions that are scalable to meet the needs of people

This two-part microbiology practical investigation introduces students to the antibacterial properties of halogen solutions and their use for water treatment from contaminated sources.

This is an open access article linked from the Journal of Chemical Education article. It highlights a systems thinking approach to incorporating green chemistry and safety into laboratory culture. This article, emphasizes how framing green chemistry through the lens of systems thinking can build a culture of safety in the laboratory.

This experiment highlights both the importance of palladium-catalyzed coupling reactions and the need for finding greener solvents. The aqueous-phase coupling of iodobenzene and diethylphosphite is a great example of how a reaction can be made greener with a relatively straightforward modification. By simply sulfonating triphenylphosphine, students will be synthesizing a water-solubilizing ligand ...

The following abstract is excerpted from the linked external resource.

"As implementation of green chemistry into university-level courses increases, it is vital that educators have a tool to rapidly measure student knowledge of green chemistry principles. We report the development of the Assessment of Student Knowledge of Green Chemistry Principles (ASK-GCP) and evaluation of its sensitivity ...

Biomimicry is the science and art of emulating nature’s best biological ideas to solve human problems. The natural world is made up of very good green chemists. Consider animals and how they make their own shelter and get all the food they need from other things in nature. This is all done without having to use any gas or electricity or taking more than they need, and they produce little waste or ...

Annually, large amounts of marine biomass waste are generated around the world. In the case of crustaceans, an opportunity is lost to convert these chemically rich streams into essential and industrially relevant materials as these residues are often landfilled or directly discarded in the environment. Current processes to produce chemicals from marine biomass rely on wasteful, chemically- and ...

In 1995 President Clinton introduced the Presidential Green Chemistry Challenge (PGCC) Awards Program. The program was created to acknowledge companies and individuals who research and develop technologies "that promote pollution prevention and industrial ecology through a new EPA Design for the Environment partnership with the chemical industry." In this article, Dr. Michael Cann discusses two ...

Three “coffee-cup” calorimetry experiments:
1) Use of the Law of Dulong and Petit to identify an unknown metal
2) Measurement of the enthalpy of sublimation of dry ice
3) Exploration of the relationship between surface area and the rate of heat transfer and the amount of heat transferred

Featuring contributions from Tamara Fitzjarrald

Many foods, such as fresh fruits, vegetables, or eggs, are packaged in plastic to protect them from damage during handling and transport. But is plastic the best choice? What if a more sustainable and biodegradable material could replace it? Researchers have begun exploring hydrogels—squishy materials that can hold a lot of water—as alternative packaging materials. In this science project, you ...