Green Chemistry and Sustainability. 3 credits, 3 contact hours

Catalog description

Prerequisites: Basic understanding of introductory general chemistry. Today's chemical enterprise, comprising industry, government, and academia, is unsustainable. Historically, the chemistry curriculum has focused on understanding the nature of matter and the use of that understanding to build exciting products to make life more comfortable, safe, and secure. However, sustainable chemistry is rarely taught to chemists in any depth, if at all. Education in chemical science and engineering must change rapidly to deal with unsustainability. This course emphasizes the concept of sustainable risks, i.e., that each chemical reaction and conversion process has risks associated with the production, and the role of chemists and engineers is to minimize this risk and reduce the impact on human health and the environment.