Computational chemistry for green design in chemistry and pharmacy: Building awareness in the classroom

Abstract

Pursuing sustainability requires the design of environmentally benign substances and materials and of sufficiently clean processes for their production, as well as careful attention to their usage throughout their life cycle and to their eventual fate. These requirements have prompted the birth of green chemistry and, more recently, of green pharmacy. The current work focuses on relevant common features of the two areas at educational level. After briefly recalling the reasons that have prompted their birth, and the main objectives of their approaches, it devotes major attention to the design of substances as a tool made increasingly more powerful by the continuous progress of computational chemistry. Particular attention is given to the importance of fostering sound attitudes in approaching molecules and of building awareness of the fundamental roles of conceptual and theoretical knowledge to ensure that the obtained results are meaningful.