Industrial Applications Of Green Solvents

Green chemistry aims at reducing pollution and avoiding hazardous waste in the environment, as well as in a number of industrial applications, including chemical, pharmaceutical, paint and leather industries. The book focuses on new applications of green solvents (water, ionic liquids, supercritical carbon dioxide, terpenes) in such areas as chemical synthesis (including lipase-catalyzed reactions, organic synthesis, esterification reactions), gas separation membranes, environment-friendly products, low energy requirement processes and alternatives to hazardous substances.

The book explores industrial applications of green solvents in industrially important areas such as oil extraction, sensors and biosensors, CO2 capture, lignocellulosic biomass utilization, bio-based chemicals and their application in catalysis, electrochemical devices, purification of pharmaceuticals, organic synthesis and transformations, bio-lubricant additives, aluminum and aluminum-alloy production. The solvents covered include water, ionic liquids, supercritical carbon dioxide and glycerol.

The conventional solvents used in chemical, pharmaceutical, biomedical and separation processes represent a great challenge to green chemistry because of their toxicity and flammability. Since the beginning of “the 12 Principles of Green Chemistry” in 1998, a general effort has been made to replace conventional solvents with environmentally benign substitutes. Water has been the most popular choice so far, followed by ionic liquids, surfactant, supercritical fluids, fluorous solvents, liquid polymers, bio-solvents and switchable solvent systems. Green Solvents Volume I and II provides a throughout overview of the different types of solvents and discusses their extensive applications in fields such as extraction, organic synthesis, biocatalytic processes, production of fine chemicals, removal of hydrogen sulphide, biochemical transformations, composite material, energy storage devices and polymers. These volumes are written by leading international experts and cover all possible aspects of green solvents’ properties and applications available in today’s literature. Green Solvents Volume I and II is an invaluable guide to scientists, R&D industrial specialists, researchers, upper-level undergraduates and graduate students, Ph.D. scholars, college and university professors working in the field of chemistry and biochemistry.

This book contains the lecture notes for the NATO Advanced Research Workshop on th Green Industrial Applications of Ionic Liquids held April 12th_16 , 2000 in Heraklion, Crete, Greece. This was the fIrst international meeting devoted to research in the area of ionic liquids (salts with melting points below 100 0c), and was intended to explore the promise of ionic liquids as well as to set a research agenda for the fIeld. It was the fIrst international meeting dedicated to the study and application of ionic liquids as solvents, and forty-one scientists and engineers from academia, industry, and government research laboratories (as well as six industry observers and four student assistants) met to discuss the current and future status of the application of ionic liquids to new green industrial technologies. It was immediately clear that the number of organic chemists and engineers working in the fIeld needed to be increased. It was also clear that the declining interest in high temperature molten salts and subsequent increase in low melting ionic liquid solvents had not yet taken hold in Eastern Europe. Participants from NATO Partner Countries contributed signifIcant expertise in high temperature molten salts and were able to take back a new awareness and interest in ionic liquid solvents.

The book explores industrial applications of green solvents in industrially important areas such as oil extraction, sensors and biosensors, CO2 capture, lignocellulosic biomass utilization, bio-based chemicals and their application in catalysis, electrochemical devices, purification of pharmaceuticals, organic synthesis and transformations, bio-lubricant additives, aluminum and aluminum-alloy production. The solvents covered include water, ionic liquids, supercritical carbon dioxide and glycerol.

Everyone is becoming more environmentally conscious and therefore, chemical processes are being developed with their environmental burden in mind. This also means that more traditional chemical methods are being replaced with new innovations and this includes new solvents. Solvents are everywhere, but how necessary are they? They are used in most areas including synthetic chemistry, analytical chemistry, pharmaceutical production and processing, the food and flavour industry and the materials and coatings sectors. However, the principles of green chemistry guide us to use less of them, or to use safer, more environmentally friendly solvents if they are essential. Therefore, we should always ask ourselves, do we really need a solvent? Green chemistry, as a relatively new sub-discipline, is a rapidly growing field of research. Alternative solvents - including supercritical fluids and room temperature ionic liquids - form a significant portion of research in green chemistry. This is in part due to the hazards of many conventional solvents (e.g. toxicity and flammability) and the significant contribution that solvents make to the waste generated in many chemical processes. Solvents are important in analytical chemistry, product purification, extraction and separation technologies, and also in the modification of materials. Therefore, in order to make chemistry more sustainable in these fields, a knowledge of alternative, greener solvents is important. This book, which is part of a green chemistry series, uses examples that tie in with the 12 principles of green chemistry e.g. atom efficient reactions in benign solvents and processing of renewable chemicals/materials in green solvents. Readers get an overview of the many different kinds of solvents, written in such a way to make the book appropriate to newcomers to the field and prepare them for the 'green choices' available. The book also removes some of the mystique associated with 'alternative solvent' choices and includes information on solvents in different fields of chemistry such as analytical and materials chemistry in addition to catalysis and synthesis. The latest research developments, not covered elsewhere, are included such as switchable solvents and biosolvents. Also, some important areas that are often overlooked are described such as naturally sourced solvents (including ethanol and ethyl lactate) and liquid polymers (including poly(ethyleneglycol) and poly(dimethylsiloxane)). As well as these additional alternative solvents being included, the book takes a more general approach to solvents, not just focusing on the use of solvents in synthetic chemistry. Applications of solvents in areas such as analysis are overviewed in addition to the more widely recognised uses of alternative solvents in organic synthesis. Unfortunately, as the book shows, there is no universal green solvent and readers must ascertain their best options based on prior chemistry, cost, environmental benefits and other factors. It is important to try and minimize the number of solvent changes in a chemical process and therefore, the importance of solvents in product purification, extraction and separation technologies are highlighted. The book is aimed at newcomers to the field whether research students beginning investigations towards their thesis or industrial researchers curious to find out if an alternative solvent would be suitable in their work.

The conventional solvents used in chemical, pharmaceutical, biomedical and separation processes represent a great challenge to green chemistry because of their toxicity and flammability. Since the beginning of “the 12 Principles of Green Chemistry” in 1998, a general effort has been made to replace conventional solvents with environmentally benign substitutes. Water has been the most popular choice so far, followed by ionic liquids, surfactant, supercritical fluids, fluorous solvents, liquid polymers, bio-solvents and switchable solvent systems. Green Solvents Volume I and II provides a throughout overview of the different types of solvents and discusses their extensive applications in fields such as extraction, organic synthesis, biocatalytic processes, production of fine chemicals, removal of hydrogen sulphide, biochemical transformations, composite material, energy storage devices and polymers. These volumes are written by leading international experts and cover all possible aspects of green solvents’ properties and applications available in today’s literature. Green Solvents Volume I and II is an invaluable guide to scientists, R&D industrial specialists, researchers, upper-level undergraduates and graduate students, Ph.D. scholars, college and university professors working in the field of chemistry and biochemistry.

Numerous solvents used in chemical processes have poisonous and unsafe properties that pose significant ecological concerns ranging from atmospheric emissions to the contamination of water effluents. To combat these ecological threats, over the course of the past two decades, the field of green chemistry has grown to develop more natural reaction processes and techniques involving the use of nonconventional solvents to diminish waste solvent production and thus decrease negative impact on the environment. Ionic liquids in particular are more environmentally friendly substitutes to conventional solvents, and as such, have seen more widespread use in the past decade. They have been used in such processes as extraction, separation, purification of organic, inorganic, and bioinorganic compounds, reaction media in biochemical and chemical catalysis, green organic and drug synthesis, among other industrial applications. Thus, in proving themselves a suitable greener media for economic viability in chemical processes, ionic liquids are leading to more sustainable development. This edition explores the application of ionic liquids as a green solvent. It contains a state-of-the-art overview on ionic liquids as green solvents for chemical processes and techniques, as well as some of their useful industrial applications.