72838 - Industrial Innovation

Learning outcomes

At the end of the course the student will know the principles and tool of Green Chemistry, the use of safer solvents and reagents, the use of green catalysis, the instruments of Green metrics, the industrial application of the Green approach for chemical production. 

Specific learning outcomes of the Module "Renewable sources": At the end of the module the student is expected to

1.        know the principal renewable sources of materials for the production of chemical substances and for energy purposes

2.        understand the advantages and disadvantages of using renewable vs. fossils chemical sources

3.        be familiar with the most important established methods for chemical and/or biochemical transformations of renewable materials into valuable products and commodities

4.        know the most important chemical products, presently available or promising, derived from renewable sources 

Specific learning outcomes of the Module "Green metrics in organic chemistry": At the end of the module the student is expected to be able to:

1.     explain the main factors determining the efficiency of a synthetic transformation.

2.     Analyze and evaluate the ‘greenness' of a chemical reaction.

3.     Choose the most efficient synthetic route to a definite target material.

Specific learning outcomes of the Module "Catalysis for a sustainable synthetic chemistry":At the end of the module the learner is expected to be able to:

1)        Predict type of catalyst and safer regents to be used for a given reaction.

2)        Analysis of the catalytic performances in terms of TOF, TON and stereochemical outcome of the process

3) Understand the basic mechanistic profiles of catalytic reactions    
 
Specific learning outcomes of the Module "Alternative green solvents": At the end of the module the student is expected to be able to:

1.        Evaluate comparatively potential environmental and toxicological hazards of common solvents and their green alternatives.

2. Evaluate comparatively physical and chemical reactivity hazards of common solvents and their green alternatives .

3.        To demonstrate critical thinking and creativity in discussion and design of alternative reaction conditions using green solvents.

Specific learning outcomes of the Module "Green synthetic strategies and pathways": At the end of the module the student is expected to be able to:

1.        To design alternative synthetic routes to a target molecule.

2. To rank competing synthetic routes using the twelve principles of Green Chemistry along with green metrics.

3.        To demonstrate critical thinking and creativity in discussion, design, and analysis of relevant topics using appropriate literature.

Specific learning outcomes of the Module "Pharmaceutical  and fine chemicals industry ": At the end of the module the student is expected to

1.       Understand the best practice in term of pharmaceutical development DS and DP

2.       Impact of quality (cGMP)  and analytical Technologies in modern drugs development

3.       Cost efficiency & process intensification

Course contents

General information: The Course is part of the Erasmus Mundus Master Course in "Chemical Innovation and Regulation" (ChIR). In the academic year 2013/14 lessons will be tought at the University of Algarve. All the information can be found  on the web site: http://www.emmcchir.org/index.html.

Contents of the Module "Renewable sources": In this module the most important sources of chemical materials will be presented making a comparison of the structure of fossils (hydrocarbons) vs. renewable (sugars, starch, cellulose, chitin, lignocellulose, triglcerids, terpenes, proteins, carbon dioxide) materials. The consequences of substituting fossils with renewable materials in terms of greenhouse effects and land use will be discussed.

The most important methods for the conversion of biomass into useful chemicals (microbial fermentation, chemical hydrolysis, dehydration, pyrolysis, gasification) will be presented. An overview of the conversion of biomass into energy sources will also be given.

Some high value chemicals derived from biomass will be taken into account for their application, either already implemented in the chemical industry or potentially exploitable in the next future.

Contents of the Module "Green metrics for organic chemistry": The module will initially discuss the parameters traditionally used to define the efficiency of a synthetic transformation (yield, chemo-, regio- and stereo-selectivity), then it will introduce new concepts related to the sustainability and environmental performance of a chemical process (chemicals toxicity and availability, hazardous reactions, waste production). Finally, starting from the seminal definition of Atom Economy by Trost, the principal green metrics introduced so far to evaluate the environmental efficiency of a synthetic transformation will be thoroughly discussed and applied to real case study examples.

Contents of the Module "Catalysis for a sustainable organic chemistry": The course will deal with the use of substoichiometric amount of catalytic agents, in order to increase reaction rates, improve levels of selectivity (chemo-, regio- e stereo-) and allowing mild and sustainable operating reaction conditions to be reached. Emphasis will be also devoted to the current need for replacing hazardous chemicals with environmentally safe organic compounds. The basic concepts of Brønsted as well as Lewis base and acid catalysis, applied to organic synthesis will be discussed, along with the use of chiral catalysts to control the stereochemical profile of the transformation. Some examples of comparisons between performances of conventional and catalytic methodologies will be also provided.

Contents of the Module "Alternative green solvents": This module will discuss the fundamentals of the relative assessment of environmental, toxicological, physical, and chemical reactivity hazards of the most common organic solvents compared to the available green alternatives represented by supercritical fluids, fluorous solvents, ionic liquids, liquid polymers. Selection guides for solvents will be proposed. Technical solutions for minimizing solvent use and recycling solvents will be discussed.

Contents of the Module "Pharmaceutical  and fine chemicals industry": The target of the course is to give the possibility to  expose to the best in class technologies available in drug research and development. The use of specific case study will be the basis of the course. Intellectual property impact in the pharmaceutical industry will be discussed as well as the change in the quality system determined by the International Regulations.  

Contents of the Module "Green synthetic strategies and pathways": This module will discuss the fundamentals of planning alternative synthetic routes to a target molecule and to rank them on the basis of the environmental acceptability, safety concerns and green metrics considerations. In particular, organocatalytic strategies will be analysed and critically discussed. Exploiting the concept of “benign by design” involves tailoring or modifying chemical synthetic steps using organocatalytic methods and concepts in order to minimize or eliminate hazardous waste from being produced during a reaction.

Readings/Bibliography

Renewable resources

 Renewables-based technology : sustainability assessment; J. Dewulf, H. Van Langenhove (Eds). John Wiley, 2006.

Green Chemistry for Environmental Remediation, R. Sanghi, V Singh Eds., Scrivener Publishing LLC., 2012 
Green metrics

“Green Chemistry Metrics: Measuring and Monitoring Sustainable Processes”, A. Lapkin , D. Constable (Eds.), Wiley-Blackwell, 2008, ISBN:  978-1-4051-5968-5

Catalysis for a sustainable organic chemistry 

“ Innovative Catalysis in Organic Synthesis, Oxidation, Hydrogenation, and C-X Bond Forming Reactions”, Andersson, Pher G. (ed.), Wiley-VCH, 2012.

“ Fundamentals of Asymmetric Catalysis”, P. Walsh and M. Kowzlowski(eds.), University Science Books 2009 .

Green synthetic strategie and pathways

Pharmaceutical and fine chemical industry 

1. Walter Cabri & Romano di Fabio “From Bench to Market. The Evolution of Chemical Synthesis from Discovery to Industrial Production.”; Oxford University Press: Oxford, 2000.
2. Walter Cabri “Industrial Synthesis Design With Low Environmental Impact In The Pharma Industry ” in New Methodologies and Techniques for a Sustainable Organic Chemistry; Mordini,A. Ed.; Springer-Verlag  WB/Nato Publishing Unit.; pp119.

ICH Guidelines: http://www.ich.org/products/guidelines.html

Teaching methods

Lecture   
Exercices

Assessment methods

Written assessment

Report on literature search

Renewable resources

Treshold:

 to correctly describe some of  the principal renewable sources of materials

 to correctly describe the principal advantages and disadvantages of using renewable vs. fossils chemical sources

 to be able of writing some of the chemical reactions for the transformation of renewable materials

 to correctly report the most important results of a literature article on chemical products derived from renewable sources

 

Good:

 to critically describe most of  the principal renewable sources of materials

 to discuss about the advantages and disadvantages of using renewable vs. fossils chemical sources

 to be able of writing and discussing most of the chemical reactions for the transformations of renewable materials

 to critically report the most important results of a literature article on chemical products derived from renewable sources

Green metrics

Treshold:

– to be able to describe the principal factors involved in determining the efficiency of a synthetic transformation

Good:

– to correctly analyze the environmental performance of a definite chemical transformation within the context of efficiency in organic synthesis

Excellent:

– given different alternatives for the synthesis of a definite target material, to choose the best transformation and to critically assess its efficiency

 

Alternative green solvents

Treshold:

To correctly compare potential environmental and toxicological hazards of two alternative solvents.

To correctly compare physical and chemical reactivity hazards physical and chemical reactivity hazards of two alternative solvents.

To critically discuss a case study.

 

Good:

To correctly compare potential environmental and toxicological hazards of alternative solvents proposing waste minimization and solvent recovery technologies.

To correctly compare physical and chemical reactivity hazards of alternative solvents, ranking them with reference to a specific chemical reaction.

To correctly analyze possible improvements of a case study.

 

Excellent:

To correctly propose a green sounded solution in terms of process design to a case study on the basis of relative environmental and toxicological hazards.

To correctly propose a green sounded solution to a case study in terms of process design on the basis of relative physical and chemical reactivity hazards

To combine economic and sustainability criteria in process design.

 

Excellent:

to critically describe most of  the principal renewable sources of materials and discuss about technical and social problems connected to their use

 to be able of writing and discussing most of the reactions for the transformations of renewable materials including the mechanistic aspects

to critically discuss the most important results of a literature article 

Green synthetic strategies and pathways

Treshold:

To correctly describe two short alternative routes to a selected target molecule

To rank the two routes on the basis of general sustainability considerations.

To critically discuss a case study.

 

Good:

To correctly describe more alternative routes to a selected target molecule

To rank them on the basis of general sustainability and cost considerations, stressing on the most critical points.

To correctly analyze possible improvements of a case study.

 

Excellent:

To correctly describe more alternative routes to a selected target molecule with a deeper insight on reaction conditions and solvents

To rank them on the basis of precisely defined sustainability and cost considerations that combine chemical, environmental, health, and business considerations to develop safer synthetic pathways.

To propose a sounded alternative to a case study on the basis of sustainability criteria.

Pharmaceutical and fine chemical industry

to correctly describe drug research and development practice

to correctly describe the critical quality and analytical parameters in drug development

to be able to describe the most important factors of production cost

 

Good:

to critically evaluate drug research and development practice

to identify the critical quality and analytical parameters in drug development

to be able to evaluate a process costs

 

 

Excellent:

to plan correctly process in drug development based on best practices

to be able to design a cost effective process

Teaching tools

Videopojection

Lecture notes will be available to students

Links to further information

http://corsi.unibo.it/2cycle/ChIR/Pages/default.aspx

Office hours

See the website of Emilio Tagliavini

See the website of Marco Lombardo

See the website of Claudio Trombini

See the website of Marco Bandini

See the website of Pier Giorgio Cozzi