GCTLC Library

Learn the twelve principles of green chemistry taught during The Green Chemistry & Engineering Student Workshop on June 17, 2013 in Washington D.C. The course content was provided by ACS-GCI. These videos were produced by the Western States Pollution Prevention Network. Other sponsors included NPPR and Washington State Department of Ecology.

Learn the twelve principles of green chemistry taught during The Green Chemistry & Engineering Student Workshop on June 17, 2013 in Washington D.C. The course content was provided by ACS-GCI. These videos were produced by the Western States Pollution Prevention Network. Other sponsors included NPPR and Washington State Department of Ecology.

Learn the twelve principles of green chemistry taught during The Green Chemistry & Engineering Student Workshop on June 17, 2013 in Washington D.C. The course content was provided by ACS-GCI. These videos were produced by the Western States Pollution Prevention Network. Other sponsors included NPPR and Washington State Department of Ecology.

The article "Incorporating Glycochemistry into the Undergraduate Laboratory Curriculum: Isolation and Analysis of Soybean Glycoprotein β-Conglycinin" addresses the underrepresentation of glycoscience in undergraduate biochemistry labs by introducing a multiweek experimental series. Students isolate β-conglycinin from soy flour and analyze it using SDS-PAGE and mass spectrometry. They also apply a ...

This article highlights a less hazardous and energy-efficient organic synthesis utilizing freshly squeezed citrus juice as a solvent that was developed for a sophomore-level laboratory course. The experiment enables students to engage with key green chemistry principles, including waste prevention, atom economy, the use of safer chemicals, and energy efficiency. In the experiment, 4 ...

This experiment looks at two types of chemical reactions that produce hydrogen and carbon dioxide gases. It explores both qualitative observations (no measurements or numbers involved) about the reactions, as well as quantitative measurements of the volume of gas produced to explore concepts of stoichiometry and the ideal gas law. These concepts will be used to relate the stoichiometry of gas ...

This article uses Green Chemistry principles to recast traditional Organic chemistry experiments into more guided inquiry-based experiments. It provides an overview of how traditional labs have been revamped to allow Green Chemistry principles to be taught through the labs. Lee, D. B. (2019). Recasting traditional organic experiments into green guided inquiry-based experiments: student perceptions ...

As substâncias químicas raramente são o resultado de uma única transformação; ao contrário, sua obtenção geralmente envolve diversas etapas de reações individuais. Tradicionalmente, essas etapas são realizadas de forma sequencial, incluindo o isolamento e a purificação dos intermediários. Entretanto, optar pela realização de reações em cascata pode trazer inúmeros benefícios, como: (i) ...

This lab discusses types of reactions and replaces traditional reaction experiments involving chemicals such as lead (II) nitrate, barium chloride, and silver nitrate. This lab challenges students to identify types of chemical reactions and distinguish between reactions that use safer, less hazardous chemicals from the more hazardous. Students will participate in the decision making by choosing ...

The article discusses steps in recycling plastic bottles, focusing on polyethylene terephthalate (PET). The steps required to separate the PET bottles from other types of plastics such as polyvinyl chloride (PVC) using optical methods and density are described. The article further describes the chemical methods used to remove other contaminants including food residues and depolymerize the ...

We have an ongoing plastic problem. This is not news, but also not the end of the story.

Half of the plastics being produced are single-use plastics, meaning they are only intended to be used once. Compared to how long plastics take to break down, or degrade, there is a large time difference between the time the product is in use versus the time the product degrades.

Plastics are made up of ...

There are many tools that a synthetic organic chemist can use to synthesize amines; one of which is reductive amination. This common method of introducing the amine functionality is especially crucial for the synthesis of pharmaceuticals and biomolecules.

A typical reductive amination is a one-pot reaction involving a solvent, an aldehyde or ketone, an amine, and a weakened reducing agent. This ...

This review article provides an overview of dipolar aprotic and ethereal solvents and their use in synthetic organic chemistry, as well as recent legislative changes being imposed on their usage, and alternative, safer and more sustainable alternatives to consider as well as case study examples of where less desirable solvents have been successfully replaced with greener options.

This educational resource presents a hands-on outreach demonstration to explore the concepts of green polymer chemistry and sustainability. The lesson focuses on reprocessable polymer networks—a key innovation in sustainable material development—using common household ingredients such as vegetable oils, citric acid, and baking soda. Students learn about the environmental challenges posed by ...

Systems thinking is currently envisaged as a useful educational approach to teaching about sustainability (including green chemistry education) because of the high number of interrelated factors involved and the need of learners to acquire the ability to identify all of the factors and their relationships. After recalling the way in which key concepts are understood and utilized in this work, the ...

This article explores the role of biodiesel as a sustainable alternative to petroleum-based fuels, highlighting its historical context, chemical principles, and practical applications. It discusses the contributions of Rudolph Diesel, who originally designed his engine to run on vegetable oil, and examines the modern shift toward biodiesel as an environmentally friendly solution to energy ...

The experiment "Separating Salts from Seawater" demonstrates the process of separating various salts from seawater. Students heat seawater to evaporate the water and precipitate solids. The procedure involves boiling seawater, allowing solids to settle, and using filtration and further evaporation to isolate different salts, primarily calcium carbonate, calcium sulfate, and sodium chloride. This ...

This ACS resource is an accessible and safe organic chemistry lab experiment that teaches liquid-liquid and acid-base extraction. The experiment can be completed entirely at home. Students are tasked with separating an unknown mixture of food colorings. The separation can be accomplished using only water, vegetable oil, white vinegar, and baking soda.

Separation of Food Colorings via Liquid ...

This resource provides ideas and tips for teaching students about sustainable energy sources which connects to the UN Sustainable Development Goal 7. The activities presented in this resource also connect the ideas of scientific discovery using energy production as a context to promote students' interests in sustainable energy.

This is a webinar from the Beyond Benign webinar archive about teaching green chemistry in higher education.

Andy Dicks, David Laviska & Nick Kingsley share tips & tricks for bringing Green Chemistry to their departments and beyond. This discussion covers approaches to transforming chemistry education as well as developing, expanding, and strengthening Green Chemistry connections within the ...

This is a free-to-read article published in the Journal of Chemical Education that provides an overview of how green chemistry curricular resources can help faculty discuss social, health, and environmental justice in their classrooms. Emphasis is placed on providing relevancy to students looking to learn how their chemistry knowledge can help them solve and/or prevent global justice crises.

Chalcones represent a group of compounds with interesting biological activities that are formed from an aldol condensation between a benzaldehyde and an acetophenone in the presence of NaOH as a catalyst. Although typically synthesized using organic solvents, in this exercise students prepare 20 different chalcones using a solventless procedure. The scale of these reactions can be easily modified ...

Carbon-carbon bond formation is arguably one of the most crucial transformations in organic chemistry. In this experiment, students will simultaneously transform carbonyl groups into olefins via the Wittig Reaction while learning principles of green chemistry. While the Wittig is not normally known for its "greenness" (due to its poor atom economy), this lab seeks to bolster the reaction's green ...

This series of exercises enforces green chemistry concepts while also introducing students to the balancing of equations and stoichiometry. The concept of conservation will likely already be familiar to most students, but these drills give students a chance to analyze different synthetic pathways and decide which path is the most green. The three target compounds given in this article are aluminum ...

This lab series challenges students to make and analyze biodiesel using soybean oil as a renewable fuel. It aligns with the NGSS Energy standards for K-12 classrooms. The lesson encourages students to tackle global issues with evidence and scientific reasoning. This lab enhances discussions on energy by exploring biodiesel as an alternative to petroleum-based diesel.

Full citation: Rosa, P. D. L ...

This lesson introduces the concept of green chemistry by replacing a conventional aluminum to alum stoichiometry lab with a more sustainable precipitation reaction using sodium carbonate and calcium chloride. Green chemistry is an approach that aims to design chemical processes and products that minimize the use and generation of hazardous substances, while also reducing waste and improving ...

Students use stoichiometry to deduce the appropriate equation for the reaction between solid metallic iron and a solution of copper(II) sulfate. This reaction produces solid metallic copper, which is precipitated as a finely divided red powder in a single displacement reaction. During the reaction, atoms from a solid metal exchange with different metal ions in a salt solution. The iron produced ...

In this episode, Professor Glenn Hurst takes his students at the University of York out into the world so they can see firsthand how their training in chemistry and chemical engineering can be channeled to help tackle sustainability challenges.

Along the way, the students learn the value of community engagement and evaluate their green chemistry and green engineering solutions in the context of ...

This published article looks at alternative solvent options to dichloromethane (DCM) for extraction of volatile compounds. By exploring the physico-chemical properties and hazard characteristics of the solvents and analyzing their efficiency in extracting volatile compounds from a fat-free model food product, safer options to DCM were identified.

Full citation: Cayot, N.; Lafarge, C.; Bou-Maroun ...

The Expert Committee on Sustainable Chemistry (ECOSChem)—representing a broad set of constituencies has developed a clear and actionable definition for "sustainable chemistry" along with a set of criteria that may be adopted and adapted to different constituencies and decision contexts, including in policy, education, corporate, and investment decision making.

This poster explains what biomimicry is and introduces the idea of sustainable design. It provides examples of biomimicry and mentions an innovation developed in the Pacific Northwest that won a green chemistry award. A supplemental document also mentions some lessons and resources that could be taught in the classroom. It was developed by the Washington State Department of Ecology.

*This is Module 1 of a 4 Module, multi-lesson unit. Sustainable Invention: An Exploration of Bioplastics is a unit that has been developed to introduce middle school students and educators to sustainable invention and green chemistry principles. The Sustainable Invention unit seeks to address the challenges of integrating invention education into middle school science curricula and advance STEM ...

* This is Module 2 of a 4-Module, multi-lesson unit. Sustainable Invention: An Exploration of Bioplastics is a unit that has been developed to introduce middle school students and educators to sustainable invention and green chemistry principles. The Sustainable Invention unit seeks to address the challenges of integrating invention education into middle school science curricula and advance STEM ...

*This is Module 3 of a 4 Module, multi-lesson unit. Sustainable Invention: An Exploration of Bioplastics is a unit that has been developed to introduce middle school students and educators to sustainable invention and green chemistry principles. The Sustainable Invention unit seeks to address the challenges of integrating invention education into middle school science curricula and advance STEM ...

*This is Module 4 of a 4-Module, multi-lesson unit. Sustainable Invention: An Exploration of Bioplastics is a unit that has been developed to introduce middle school students and educators to sustainable invention and green chemistry principles. The Sustainable Invention unit seeks to address the challenges of integrating invention education into middle school science curricula and advance STEM ...

This experiment highlights the synthesis of the Earth-abundant metal complex, Fe(acac)3 (acac = acetylacetonate), using an approach that is greener than traditional published syntheses. Students will also have an opportunity to determine the magnetic susceptibility of this complex and to learn about NMR spectroscopy.

This lesson introduces the global problem of plastics and sets the stage for designing a biodegradable cell phone case made from renewable materials. Students will consider their own impact on the environment through their personal choices while exploring the scale of effect that one product can have.

This project came about from a collaboration between Beyond Benign and Steelcase.

In this lesson, students will be tasked with designing a biodegradable cell phone case made with mycelium material by Ecovative Design. They will explore how Ecovative is combating the global problem of plastics by using Styrofoam-alternative materials grown from mycelium, which are the parts of a fungi analogous to the roots of a plant. They will then be introduced to the engineering design ...

In this lesson, students will take part in a very important task typical of any scientist or engineer: reviewing and revising their experimental procedure. Together, their changes will highlight the three criteria important for green chemistry technology, which allows for discussion of the sustainability of their mycelium cell phone case.

This project came about from a collaboration between ...

In this lesson, the students reflect on where their project is in the engineering design process and build their final product: a mycelium material cell phone case. They then create data tables that they will fill in throughout the growth process to help guide their product evaluation. This part of the unit takes approximately 10-15 days, depending on the growth of the mycelium which depends on ...

In this lesson, students will revise those procedures and use them to evaluate their mycelium cell phone cases. They will then use the information from their experiments to draw conclusions about their final product and choose one case to recommend.

This project came about from a collaboration between Beyond Benign and Steelcase.

This lesson challenges students to consider the information they have gathered about the cost, safety and performance of their case and communicate the details of their final product in a presentation.

This project came about from a collaboration between Beyond Benign and Steelcase.

The Sustainable STEM curriculum features a 6-lesson unit focusing on sustainable design. Students create their own cell phone case out of renewable mushroom material and see how the product aligns with the three criteria of green chemistry.
The mushroom material was developed by Ecovative as a Styrofoam replacement for packaging.
Sustainable STEM also features 3 stand-alone lessons.
- Fabulous ...

Students will consider the difference between natural and synthetic fibers and investigate the ways that a variety of fabrics will interact with both basic and acidic dyes.

This project came about from a collaboration between Beyond Benign and Steelcase.

In this lesson, students will explore the basics of polymer science, using pipe cleaners and colored penne to create models. Then, students will create two different slimes using chemical reactions and consider the difference between naturally derived and synthetic materials.

This project came about from a collaboration between Beyond Benign and Steelcase.

In this lesson, students will be introduced to biomimicry and Sharklet film. They will then investigate how Sharklet works through a hands-on experiment that simulates the accumulation of bacteria on surfaces with and without the pattern.

This project came about from a collaboration between Beyond Benign and Steelcase.

Fossil fuels (natural gas, coal, oil) are non-sustainable and non-renewable resources that our current society has become heavily dependent on. Petroleum (literally rock oil) is the source of gasoline and diesel gas, two common fuels that keep our automobiles running. Prices of these petroleum based fuel are rising due to their high demand and scarcity. In addition, the burning of these fuels ...

This is a laboratory experiment for Organic Chemistry for a greener SN2 reaction. The reaction uses a greener solvent and produces a benign product. It was published in J. Chem. Ed.

A Simple SN2 Reaction for the Undergraduate Organic Laboratory
John J. Esteb, John R. Magers, LuAnne McNulty, Paul Morgan, and Anne M. Wilson
Journal of Chemical Education 2009 86 (7), 850
DOI: 10.1021/ed086p850