Design of Safer Chemicals

Synthesis of bioactive molecules from 5-hydroxymethylfurfural vía Passerini multicomponent reaction (ACS Green and Sustainable Chemistry Summer School, GSCSS - 2024)

The pharmaceutical industry is currently experiencing increasing demand for small-molecule drugs. However, a significant portion of the raw materials used in drug production are fossil-based, originating from crude oil. This reliance on non-renewable resources presents major challenges, particularly in the context of global environmental crises such as climate change, greenhouse gas emissions, and dwindling oil reserves.

How Tobacco Companies Get Around Menthol Bans - and How this Relates to How We Regulate Chemicals More Broadly

Regulating chemicals one-by-one has allowed the tobacco industry to skirt menthol bans by creating new additives with similar effects but unclear safety profiles.

Students challenged to phase out toxic chemicals using green chemistry

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Greener Synthesis Toolbox: Sonochemistry

Sonochemistry (Latin sonus ‘sound’) is an emerging branch of chemistry which uses ultrasonic waves (ultrasound) as the activation mode instead of conventional thermal energy, often using a piezoelectric material to perform (ultra)sonication.1

Toward Property-Based Regulation

An expanding web of adverse impacts on people and the environment has been steadily linked to anthropogenic chemicals and their proliferation. Central to this web are the regulatory structures intended to protect human and environmental health through the control of new molecules. Through chronically insufficient and inefficient action, the current chemical-by-chemical regulatory approach, which considers regulation at the level of chemical identity, has enabled many adverse impacts to develop and persist.

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