API Syntheses in Aqueous Media: Assessing the Environmental Footprint en route from Academic Discovery to Industrial Applications as “Green Opportunity” for Process Chemistry
Nico Fleck, Frank Roschangar, Alexander M. Haydl
Abstract
The use of designer surfactants to facilitate chemical transformations in water is a prime example for the knowledge transfer from academia to industry. Accordingly, chemistry in aqueous media aided by surfactants has emerged as a viable alternative to the use of organic solvents as part of the effort to transform chemical manufacturing into a green art. While classical metrics indicate tremendous savings on waste generation, a more exhaustive analysis including the intrinsic carbon footprint of such surfactants has never been conducted. The present work addresses this topic and outlines this analysis as part of a case study on the example of a widely known and applied working-horse of surfactant chemistry, TPGS-750-M. Meanwhile, the fate of the employed water is considered, and a holistic comparison to organic solvents is drawn. The key for a streamlined assessment is the reflected use of proper metrics, clearly pointing out a nonzero carbon footprint of such chemistries in aqueous media, though the techniques range at the greener end of the scale of reaction media.