Green Chemistry in the Organic Teaching Laboratory:: An Environmentally Benign Synthesis of Adipic Acid
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Scott M. Reed [1] ; James E. Hutchison [1]
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[1] Department of Chemistry, Universty of Oregon
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- Localización: Journal of chemical education, ISSN 0021-9584, Vol. 77, Nº 12 (December), 2000, págs. 1627-1627
- Idioma: inglés
- Texto completo no disponible (Saber más ...)
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Resumen
Environmentally benign ("green") chemical techniques are growing in importance in academic and industrial research laboratories. Such chemistry has been slow to appear in teaching laboratories, owing in part to a lack of published material on this subject. Recent developments in green synthesis provide opportunities to introduce this material in teaching laboratories. We present a synthesis of adipic acid that utilizes green reagents (hydrogen peroxide as the oxidant), solvents (water), and methods (phase-transfer catalysis, catalyst recycling). The synthesis works well and provides an excellent forum for emphasizing green chemical concepts while teaching laboratory skills. It demonstrates reuse of a product, synthesis using a nonhazardous solvent, elimination of deleterious by-products, and use of a recyclable catalyst. It can be carried out on either the macroscale or microscale and generates little waste if the catalyst solution is recycled. This experiment fits well in a sophomore organic sequence; it covers the topics of oxidation, phase-transfer catalysis, and the technique of recrystallization, reinforces lecture topics such as alkene synthesis and reactivity, and provides an opportunity to introduce polymer chemistry.
