Making the connection between green chemistry and safety at the undergraduate level

1. Making the connection between green chemistry and safety at the undergraduate level Robert M. Hanson St. Olaf College Northfield, MN 55057 hansonr@stolaf.edu 244th ACS National Meeting, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania August 21 , 2012

2. My Goals Today • Emphasize the connection between green chemistry and safety. • Make that case that GC and safety nicely complement each other. • Show you what we are doing at St. Olaf College in both these areas.

3. Good reasons to teach about green chemistry

4. Good reasons to teach about green chemistry

5. Good reasons to teach about green chemistry

6. Good reasons to teach about green chemistry

7. Good reasons to teach about green chemistry

8. Good reasons to teach about green chemistry • Green chemistry is all about purposeful design. • Green chemistry demands accountability. • Green chemistry resonates with student creativity and interest in caring for the environment and for the future.

9. Purposeful Design • Green chemistry requires a consideration of intent. • Which of the products is the desired product? • Is there a better way accomplish the same result? • Involving fewer hazards • Involving less waste

10. Accountability Question: What is the balanced chemical equation for this reaction?

11. Accountability Question: What other products are formed?

12. Accountability • Green chemistry requires consideration of all of the inputs and outputs. Atom Economy = 40% before… …after

13. Accountability • Green chemistry requires consideration of all of the inputs and outputs. Experimental Atom Economy = 26% before… …after

14. Creativity • Green chemistry considerations suggest valuable alternatives. Atom Economy 84% Exp. Atom Economy 80%

15. Green Chemistry Assistanthttp://fusion.stolaf.edu/gca

16. Green Chemistry Assistanthttp://fusion.stolaf.edu/gca

17. Green Chemistry Assistanthttp://fusion.stolaf.edu/gca

18. Green Chemistry Assistanthttp://fusion.stolaf.edu/gca

19. Green Chemistry Assistanthttp://fusion.stolaf.edu/gca

20. Green Chemistry Assistanthttp://fusion.stolaf.edu/gca

21. Green Chemistry Assistanthttp://fusion.stolaf.edu/gca

22. Green Chemistry Assistanthttp://fusion.stolaf.edu/gca

23. Green Chemistry Assistanthttp://fusion.stolaf.edu/gca

24. Green Chemistry Assistanthttp://fusion.stolaf.edu/gca

25. Green Chemistry Assistanthttp://fusion.stolaf.edu/gca

26. Green Chemistry Assistanthttp://fusion.stolaf.edu/gca

27. Green Chemistry Assistanthttp://fusion.stolaf.edu/gca

28. 120 Questions That Could Save Your Lifehttp://stolaf.edu/depts/chemistry/safety

29. 120 Questions That Could Save Your Lifehttp://stolaf.edu/depts/chemistry/safety

30. 120 Questions That Could Save Your Lifehttp://stolaf.edu/depts/chemistry/safety

31. Green Chemistry At St. Olaf Lessons learned: • Students need help learning how to be accountable for the chemistry they do.

32. Green Chemistry At St. Olaf Lessons learned: • Introducing green chemistry provides a context for discussing safety, including MSDS sheets, health, and environmental hazards.

33. Green Chemistry At St. Olaf Lessons learned: • Students start asking important questions.

34. Green Chemistry At St. Olaf Lessons learned: • Faculty start asking important questions.

35. Green Chemistry At St. Olaf Lessons learned: • Faculty and students start talking. Just talk about the different approaches you might take … I think that's kind of how I got it or at least that's how it was when I took it with [organic chemistry lecture professor] where we were just talking, you know, about things and we would just talk about it a little bit and the advantages and disadvantages of it with regards to safety…

36. Green Chemistry At St. Olaf Lessons learned: • Risk = f (hazard, exposure)

37. Green Chemistry At St. Olaf Lessons learned: • Risk = f (hazard, exposure) • Awareness = f (interest, exposure)

38. Green Chemistry At St. Olaf Acknowledgments: • Gary Spessard • Paul Jackson • Erik Epp • Kallie Doeden • W.M. Keck Foundation

39. Green Chemistry At St. Olaf Thank You!