Annual Green Chemistry Lectures

2012/2013 Green Chemistry Lecture
John C. Warner

"Green chemistry: New eyes and new ideas in science"

We constantly hear rumblings regarding the inability of scientists to innovate "like they used to".  We hear about the hazards of chemistry and the desperate need to put society on a sustainable pathway. We scientists worry about the general public's lack of appreciation or ability to understand basic science. It is an inescapable reality that the next generation of students in chemistry will be living and working in a very different world than the previous generation. Despair is not an option.  The future is brighter than ever. We need to attract the next generation of students into the optimistic promise of green chemistry. The evolution of Green Chemistry is happening around us.  Industrial labs are embracing the principles and Academic Departments across the country are reorienting their curriculum. This discussion will explain why students (and their instructors) need to know that they are essential to achieving a sustainable future. Gordon College is at the forefront of this movement! Albert Einstein once said that "No problem can be solved at the same level of awareness that created it". We need a diversity of students that have new perspectives and new ideas, to help us chart our path forward.

John is the President and Chief Technology Officer of the Warner Babcock Institute for Green Chemistry and also President of the Beyond Benign Foundation

2011/2012 Green Chemistry Lecture
Michael C. Cann

"Green Chemistry: Chemistry for the Long Haul"
 
As concerns over such issues as food, water, energy, climate change and waste production escalate, sustainability is rapidly moving from the wings to center stage on the world agenda.  Chemistry, the central science, must play a central role in moving humanity onto a sustainable path. Green Chemistry (environmentally benign chemistry) is the paradigm that will aid in the development of this sustainability.  Green chemistry not only focuses on pollution prevention, but also the efficient use of resources, use of renewable resources, and energy conservation. This presentation will highlight the ethos of green chemistry, the twelve principles of green chemistry, specific examples of green chemistry from the winners of the Presidential Green Chemistry Challenge Awards, and some of our efforts to infuse green chemistry into the curriculum.

Professor Cann reminded us why we are excited about green chemistry here at Gordon.

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Michael Cann is originally from the Saratoga region of upstate New York (USA) and attended Marist College where he earned his BA in chemistry in 1969. Mike received his MA and PhD in organic chemistry from Stony Brook University in 1972 and 1973. He was a post-doctoral fellow at the University of Utah (1973-74), and a Lecturer at the University of Colorado-Denver (1974-75). Since 1975 he has been a chemistry faculty member at the University of Scranton where he is also the Co-Director of Environmental Science. His areas of interest include microwave assisted reactions, byproducts from biodiesel production, green chemistry, and sustainability. 

Mike has developed web-based green chemistry teaching modules and books dealing with real-world cases in green chemistry. He is the co-author of an environmental chemistry text and Chemistry in Context, 7th edition. He is the editor of a book series, Sustainability: Contributions through Science and Technology, and he runs an annual workshop on sustainability for Scranton faculty.

He has taught a number of undergraduate courses including general chemistry, organic chemistry, environmental chemistry, topics in environmental science, internship in environmental science and elements of chemistry, and graduate courses in mechanistic and structural organic chemistry.

2012 Green Chemistry Lecture Flyer (PDF)

2010/2011 Green Chemistry Lecture
Terry Collins

"The Design of Iron-TAML Activators: Effective Small Molecule Mimics of the Peroxidase Enzymes"

Research in Carnegie Mellon’s Institute for Green Science is focused on the design, development, mechanism of action, and myriad uses of TAML activators. TAML activators with iron as the metal are the first miniaturized replicas of the peroxidase enzymes, which activate hydrogen peroxide throughout nature. The key to the TAML discovery and development has been the Collins iterative design protocol. This protocol is focused primarily on obtaining strongly electron-donating ligand systems where derivative complexes are able to resist both hydrolytic and oxidative degradation under the aggressive conditions of peroxidase-like processes. After being pursued for 15 years, the protocol yielded the prototype TAML activator.  Further advancement via the protocol to higher generation catalysts has led to over 20 TAML activators that exhibit varying reactivities (with H₂O₂ and other peroxides), selectivities and lifetimes.

See link below to download the full description of talk.

Read the essay "Toward Sustainable Chemistry" by Terry in Science.
 

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Terry is is the Teresa Heinz Professor of Green Chemistry at Carnegie Mellon University where he has taught since 1987. He is the Director of Carnegie Mellon’s Institute for Green Science.

Professor Collins is one of the founders of the field of Green Chemistry. He is internationally recognized for his development of small molecule catalysts called TAML® activators that activate natural oxidants such as hydrogen peroxide to clean water of numerous pollutants and pathogens. TAML activators are the first effective mimics of the peroxidase enzymes, a huge class of enzymes found throughout nature.

Professor Collins’ honors include among others the Heinz Award for the Environment, the EPA’s 1999 Presidential Green Chemistry Challenge Award, the Inaugural Kauffman Award of the Pittsburgh Foundation, Japan’s Society of Pure and Applied Coordination Chemistry Award, and the Pittsburgh Section Award of the ACS,. He is an honorary professor and a Distinguished Alumnus awardee of Auckland University and an Honorary Fellow of the Royal Society of New Zealand.

2011 Green Chemistry Lecture - Design of TAML Activators (PDF)

2009/2010 Green Chemistry Lecture
Mary Kirchhoff

"Sustainability Through Green Chemistry"

Green chemistry is the design of chemical products and processes that reduce or eliminate the use and generation of hazardous substances. Green chemistry is a science-based approach to pollution prevention that is also profitable. Life-saving pharmaceuticals can be produced while minimizing the amount of waste generated, plastics that biodegrade can be synthesized from plants, and reactions can be run in water rather than in traditional organic solvents by applying green chemistry principles to chemical products and processes. This presentation will highlight the principles and practice of green chemistry and provide examples that illustrate the role of green chemistry in achieving sustainability.

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Mary Kirchhoff is Director of the American Chemical Society Education Division. She received her Ph.D. in organic chemistry from the University of New Hampshire and spent nine years with the Chemistry Department at Trinity College in Washington, DC. She became involved with green chemistry when she received an AAAS Environmental Fellowship to work with the U.S. EPA's green chemistry program. Mary served for three years as Assistant Director of the ACS Green Chemistry Institute. She is a co-author or co-editor on Designing Safer Polymers, Greener Approaches to Undergraduate Chemistry Experiments, and Going Green: Integrating Green Chemistry into the Curriculum. In 2006, Mary was elected a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

Designing Safer Polymers, Greener Approaches to Undergraduate Chemistry Experiments (BMP)

2008/2009 Green Chemistry Lecture
Paul Anastas

"Green Chemistry, Current Status and Future Challenges"

Dr. Paul Anastas challenged an audience of over one hundred on why we need to support and be involved in green chemistry. He showed how far we have come and provided direction on where we
still need to go.

Professor Anastas is the Director of the Center for Green Chemistry and Green Engineering and the Teresa and H. John Heinz III Professor in the Practice of Chemistry for the Environment at Yale University. The objective of his center's research is to design green chemistry systems and explore new chemical systems that accomplish efficient transformations and separations through the use of integrated synthetic and molecular engineering techniques. Professor Anastas is frequently referred to as the father of green chemistry, having introduced the term in 1991. He has won numerous awards, he is a highly sought after speaker, and he is a prolific author. His influential Green Chemistry: Theory & Practice, co-authored with Dr. John Warner, is the seminal work in the field of green chemistry.

Click for more information on the Center for Green Chemistry and Engineering at Yale