Sustainable synthesis of chemicals through green chemistry and catalysis
Luc Boisvert
October 31, 2013
The chemical industry has historically had a bad reputation in the general population. Common misconceptions are that “anything chemical is toxic” and that “any activity from the chemical industry is bad for the environment." Whether or not there is truth to these ideas (now or in the past), one thing is for sure: out of sheer necessity and because of regulation, the modern chemical industry is at the forefront of the use and development of environmentally friendly technologies. A key component of this approach is the reliance on green chemistry principles that in most cases lead to the development of catalytic processes for the production of chemicals.
The first part of this presentation will include a discussion of issues related to the sustainable synthesis of chemicals. The second part of the presentation will highlight how some of these ideas are used in the Boisvert lab to develop more environmentally acceptable routes to obtain chemicals.