EKB 4293 GREEN & SUSTAINABLE CHEMICAL

PROCESS
12 PRINCIPLES OF GREEN CHEMISTRY
PRINCIPLE 1 : PREVENTION

PRESENTED BY:
THINES MANIKAM (1103151002)
BRENNAN GERARD (110315200)
KUMUTHINI RAMANI (1103152005)
 PRINCIPLE 1 : PREVENTION
■ Green chemistry is the design of chemical products and processes that reduce or
eliminate the use and generation of hazardous substances.

■ By the implementing the 12 Principles of Green Chemistry wherever/whenever

possible, significant reduction in the overall negative impacts of chemistry research
may be achieved.

■ First Principle: PREVENTION

■ It is better to prevent waste than to treat or clean up waste after it is formed.

 INNOVATION #1
Prevention of Waste in Polymerase Chain Reaction
(PCR)

■ Process of amplifying genetic material, is used in basic research, genetic engineering,

forensics, infectious disease identification, food safety, and personalized medicine

■ Expanding role of PCR in science and medicine highlights the need to create safe and

sustainable chemistries for the manufacture of reagents for these applications.

 Traditional Procedure
■ PCR is a technique to make many copies of a specific DNA region in vitro (in a test
tube rather than an organism).

■ Goal of PCR is to make enough of the target DNA region that it can be analysed or
used in some other way.

■ Deoxyribonucleotide triphosphates (dNTPs) involves multiple steps that require

isolation and purification of intermediates

■ Manufacturing the key chemicals required for PCR tests is quite wasteful, often
producing thousands of times more waste than product.
Greener Approach: Life Technologies Synthetic Process

■ Devised synthetic routes for the manufacture of dNTPs that are only three steps in a
single pot.

■ Step 1: Reverse Transcription using Reverse Transcriptase to generate 1st

complementary DNA (C-DNA) using Ribonucleic Acid (RNA) template.

■ Step 2: Generation of 2nd C-DNA.

■ Step 3: Amplification of sample using DNA polymerase (PCR).

■ Faster, less pipetting steps, minimize contamination, improves data reproducibility.

 GREENER BENEFITS
■ Improved the yields and specificity of reaction.

■ Prevents about 1.5 million pounds of hazardous waste a year.

■ Worker exposure to hazardous materials is minimized.

■ Process E-factor (the ratio of amount of waste to amount of product) is improved by about a
factor of 10. (3200 to 400)

■ Organic solvent consumption has been reduced by up to 95 percent.

■ Other hazardous waste reduced up to 65 percent.

Source : United States Environment Protection Agency Life Technologies Corporation (technology acquired by
Thermo Fisher Scientific)
 INNOVATION #2
Biocatalytic process to manufacture Simvastatin

■ Simvastatin, a leading drug for treating high cholesterol, is manufactured from a natural
product. The traditional multistep synthesis was wasteful and used large amounts of
hazardous reagents.

■ Greener study engineered the synthesis using an engineered enzyme and a practical
low-cost feedstock. Further optimized was both the enzyme and the chemical process.
 Traditional Procedure

• Simvastatin was a leading drug for treating high cholesterol and is manufactured from
a fungal natural product containing an additional methyl group at the C2 position of the
side chain.
• This subtle structural modification makes simvastatin more potent in the reduction of
total and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) with decreased hepatoxicity and
reduced side effects.
• Existing Technology
– Two routes to manufacturing simvastatin:
1) Hydrolysis/Esterification
2) Direct Methylation ?

– Disadvantages for both processes:

■ Low overall yields (<70%)
■ Utilize excess hazardous and toxic reagents
■ Require copious amounts of solvents
 Greener Approach: Green manufacturing process for
simvastatin using bio catalysis while optimizing chemical
process engineering.

• The LovD enzyme was cloned and identified for biological synthesis of lovastatin
• Demonstrated that LovD can be used to synthesize simvastatin and
• Identified a simple acyl donor (DMB-SMMP) that could potentially support an economic
large scale process
 GREENER BENEFITS

■ Synthesis was conceived using an engineered enzyme and a practical low-cost

feedstock

■ The newer method greatly reduces hazard and waste, its is cost effective

■ The by-product (methyl 3- mercaptopropionic acid is recycled

■ The major waste streams generated are biodegraded in biotreatment facilities.

Source : Green Chemistry Case Studies: Presidential Green Chemistry Challenge Awards 2012 Winners
(technology acquired by Codexis, Inc. & Dr. Yi Tang, UCLA)
 INNOVATION #3
Enzymes Reduce the Energy and Wood Fibre Required to
Manufacture High-Quality Paper and Paperboard

■ Traditionally, making strong paper required costly wood pulp, energy-intensive

treatment, or chemical additives.

■ Greener Approach introduces enzymes which modify the cellulose in wood to increase

the number of "fibrils" that bind the wood fibers to each other, thus making paper with

improved strength and quality -- without additional chemicals or energy.

■ Allows papermaking with less wood fiber and higher percentages of recycled paper,

enabling the elimination of waste paper significantly.

 Traditional Procedure
• Cellulose fibers are the basic structural material of paper
• Properties of a sheet of paper like strength and weight depend on bonding between cellulose fibers
• Existing Technology:

o Papermakers can improve paper strength by:

 Adding different wood pulps (costly)
 Increasing mechanical treatment (requires significant energy expenditure)
 Using various chemical additives (many derived from non-renewable resources)

o In nature, cellulases are enzymes that catalyze the hydrolysis of cellulose to degrade and recycle
this organic compound
 Endoclucanases disrupt the crystalline structure of cellulose and expose individual
chains
 Exocellulases separate pieces of two to four sugar monomers from the exposed
chains
 Cellobiases hydrolyze those fragments into glucose
 Greener Approach: Enzymes with Cellulase group to
modify the Cellulose Fibers
■ Select enzymes within the cellulase group to modify cellulose fibers in order to improve paper quality and
support greener manufacturing practices.

■ Maximyze technology consists of specific enzymes that improve inter-fiber bonding in cellulose, increasing the
strength of paper.
Bonding of Refined Cellulose Fibers (500x)
No enzyme treatment Treated with Maximyze

Limited number of fibrils (arrow) can Fibrillation is evident through multiple

be seen connecting adjacent fibers fibrils (arrows) between cellulose fibers
 GREENER BENEFITS
• Less cellulose fiber required to produce paper and related products
o Less trees required to produce pulp, which helps maintaing our woodsources
o Increase in the proportion of hardwood fiber needed to maintain paper strength (reduces
amount of softwood fibers, which have a higher cost)

• More utilization of recycled paper, which reduces volumes in landfills

o The paper industry has a strong commitment to sustainability, maintaining forest lands, and
recycling: 63.5% of paper consumed in the US is recovered and recycled to be reused back in
the manufacture of paper and paperboard.

• Use of enzymes, which are safer with regard to human health and the environment
o Made using renewable raw materials in a fermentation process
o Completely biodegradable

Source : Green Chemistry Case Studies: Presidential Green Chemistry Challenge Awards 2012 Winners (technology
acquired by Buckman International, Inc)
 REFERENCE
■ United States Environment Protection Agency Life Technologies Corporation (technology acquired
by Thermo Fisher Scientific)

• Link: https://www.epa.gov/greenchemistry/presidential-green-chemistry-challenge-2013-greener-synthetic-
pathways-award

■ Green Chemistry Case Studies: Presidential Green Chemistry Challenge Awards 2012 Winners
(technology acquired by Codexis, Inc. & Dr. Yi Tang, UCLA)

■ Green Chemistry Case Studies: Presidential Green Chemistry Challenge Awards 2012 Winners
(technology acquired by Buckman International, Inc)

• Link: https://www.epa.gov/sites/production/files/201502/documents/award_recipients_1996_2014.pdf