Green Discovery Chemistry Award

Purpose: To recognize outstanding efforts in discovery chemistry that demonstrate compelling environmental, safety and/or efficiency improvements through green chemistry and engineering.

Nominations are due December 1, 2024 at 11:59 EST (GMT-5).

The ACS Green Chemistry Institute Pharmaceutical Roundtable recognizes industrial chemists who have developed more sustainable and green technologies, which either have the potential to or have already had a significant impact within the area of discovery/medicinal chemistry (specifically of biologically-active molecules).

The following five focus areas are integral to the discipline of early-stage discovery chemistry, and each provides opportunities for sustainable innovation. The nomination should state with which focus area it is most closely aligned, though submissions that highlight green chemistry/sustainability improvements in other aspects of the discovery process are also welcomed. 

1. Improvements on sustainable protocols for final product isolation from complex reaction mixtures.
2. Advances on automated and parallel synthesis strategies (including miniaturization) that improve the efficiency of a given process, enable solvent selection or facilitate the generation of libraries of compounds for testing.
3. Forge non-conventional pathways and synthetic strategies integrating green chemistry principles. This involves overcoming experimental challenges that ensure environmental benignity and high efficacy.
4. Novel SAR (Structure Activity Relationship) strategies to improve the sustainability of ADME optimization campaigns including those developed through computational approaches or in vitro assays.
5. Innovative molecular design to expedite lead compound identification and/or consider aspects of long-term biodegradation of biologically active molecules.

The 2025 award will be presented at the Green Chemistry & Engineering Conference. The recipient, or a member of the winning team, will be invited to share their technology in an oral presentation at this event. The recipient’s transportation, lodging, and registration fees for the conference are reimbursable up to $2,500 USD (additional funds available for international travel following ACS guidelines). The recipient or winning team will also receive a plaque recognizing the achievement and certificates will be given to each team member.