78748 - Chemical Assessment 4

Academic Year 2017/2018

  • Moduli: Chiara Samorì (Modulo 1) Marco Lombardo (Modulo 2) Marco Bandini (Modulo 3)
  • Teaching Mode: Traditional lectures (Modulo 1) Traditional lectures (Modulo 2) Traditional lectures (Modulo 3)
  • Campus: Bologna
  • Corso: Second cycle degree programme (LM) in Chemistry (cod. 8856)

    Also valid for Second cycle degree programme (LM) in Chemistry (cod. 8856)

Learning outcomes

At the end of the course the student will be aware of using Green Metric tools for assessing the quality of a chemical process. The student will know how to exploit renewable sources of raw materials and catalytic synthetic processes for a sustainable design and production of chemical substances and how to assess a chemical process in the light of the knowledge acquired.

Course contents

Module I0101, Renowable Sources (Dr. Chiara Samorì): The module will describe the principles of Green Chemistry and the relationship between sustainable chemistry and renewable sources. The main components of biomass (sugar, starch, cellulose, chitin, lignocellulose, triglycerides) will be presented, comparing their structure with those of fossil sources. Different types of biomass pre-treatment (chemical, physico-chemical, mechanical and biological) will be illustrated in order to obtain chemical compounds, biopolymers, and biofuels. The principles and the main concepts related to bio-refineries will be explained, and several examples of existing biorefineries will be discussed. A deepening on algorefinery will be done, illustrating the advantages / disadvantages of algal biomass in comparison to terrestrial biomass. The differences between biopolymers and biodegradable polymers will be explained, together with some relevante examples (starch, polylactic acid, polyhydroxyalkanoates). The applications of some valuable chemical substances obtained from biomass will be examined.

Mudule I0102, Green Metrics in Organic Synthesis (Prof. Marco Lombardo): The module will initially discuss the parameters traditionally used to define the efficiency of a synthetic transformation (yield, chemo-, regio- and stereo-selectivity), then it will introduce new concepts related to the sustainability and environmental performance of a chemical process (chemicals toxicity and availability, hazardous reactions, waste production). Finally, starting from the seminal definition of Atom Economy by Trost, the principal green metrics introduced so far to evaluate the environmental efficiency of a synthetic transformation will be thoroughly discussed and applied to real case study examples.

Module I0103, Catalysis for a sustainable synthetic chemistry (Prof. Marco Bandini): The module will deal with the use of substoichiometric amount of catalytic agents, in order to increase reaction rates, improve levels of selectivity (chemo-, regio- e stereo-) and allowing mild and sustainable operating conditions to be reached. Emphasis will be also devoted to the current need for the replacement of hazardous chemicals with environmentally safe organic compounds. The basic concepts of Brønsted as well as Lewis base and acid catalysis, applied to organic synthesis will be discussed. Metal-catalyzed reaction such as Cross-coupling reaction and metathesis of -systems will be discussed in details with application on large-scale productions: from pharmaceutics to plastics.

 

Teaching methods

Lectures

Assessment methods

Written reports on course topics

Teaching tools

Lesson slides and literature

Links to further information

http://corsi.unibo.it/2cycle/ChIR/Pages/default.aspx

Office hours

See the website of Chiara Samorì

See the website of Marco Lombardo

See the website of Marco Bandini