Holistic Metrics for Assessment of the Greenness of Chemical Reactions in the Context of Chemical Education

Abstract

Two new semiquantitative green chemistry metrics, the green circle and the green matrix, have been developed for quick assessment of the greenness of a chemical reaction or process, even without performing the experiment from a protocol if enough detail is provided in it. The evaluation is based on the 12 principles of green chemistry. The performance of these metrics was evaluated for several syntheses made in our laboratory, under different sets of conditions. They were compared with a more complex set of metrics, assembled previously in our work, the green star, which was used to validate these new tools. These new metrics are useful for curricula designers and teachers in the evaluation and selection of green chemistry experiments. They are also appropriate for students to use in the context of chemical education for evaluating their experiments. These new metrics seem adequate to stimulate the incorporation of green chemistry in the teaching environment.