Prof. Paul Anastas

Green Chemistry has accomplished tremendous successes since its inception as a design framework in the 1990’s. There are new chemistries and fields of investigation that have been launched in Green Chemistry including new synthetic and analytical methodologies, new approaches to molecular design, new solvent systems, and new catalysts. In addition, there have been new journals, new degree programs, new funding programs, and new industrial programs based around Green Chemistry.

However, as we review the success of Green Chemistry thus far, it is as important to keep an eye on the challenges of the future and identify the scientific challenges confronting Green Chemistry. Questions such as, “How can Green Chemistry be implemented in a systems approach rather than through incremental improvements?”, “What is the pathway toward transformational innovations for sustainability?”, “What is the role of nanoscience on green chemical catalysis?”, “Can we use energy in the place of matter to effectively carry out transformations catalytically on a commercial scale?”, “Are the reaction types we use currently in chemical manufacturing the one’s we should be using in the next ten, twenty years?”.  If we are to meet the challenges of sustainability, it will require that we address the problem at the molecular level as one part of the solution.