Downloaded by 80.82.77.83 on May 12, 2018 | https://pubs.acs.org Publication Date: November 18, 1994 | doi: 10.1021/bk-1994-0577.pr001
Preface BENIGN BY DESIGN CHEMISTRY is synthetic chemistry designed to use and generate fewer hazardous substances. The ultimate goal of benign chemistry research is to develop and institute alternative syntheses for important industrial chemicals in order to prevent environmental pollution. With the United States chemical industry alone releasing more than three billion tons of toxic chemicals to the environment annually, significant challenges are available for chemists to design new syntheses that are less polluting. This type of prophylactic chemistry is as important to avoiding environmental problems as preventative medicine is to avoiding medical problems. This book provides an opportunity for several chemists who are pioneers in the field of benign by design chemistry to present their basic research. We hope it will inspire many more chemists to become involved in creative environmentally responsible chemistry as it becomes the topic of more research and then moves further into industrial practice. Chapters in this book discuss the conceptual basis for benign chemistry and a wide range of research embracing this approach. The symposium on which this book is based showcased results of several researchers who were the first to participate in a grant program founded by Roger L. Garrett of the Office of Pollution Prevention and Toxics at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Garrett's vision allowed for the initiation and development of the Agency's program, Alternative Synthetic Design for Pollution Prevention. Other contributors highlight important results of benign chemistry research from academic, industrial, and governmental settings. The symposium was the first one to explore this new area of research in synthetic chemistry. The numerous connections made between academic and industrial chemists at the symposium to establish research collaborations should hasten the further adoption of benign chemistry principles in industrial practice. The favorable audience reception, the extensive press coverage, the enthusiasm of our individual speakers, and the reaction of the scientific community following the symposium encouraged us to capture the essence of the symposium in this book. We acknowledge our authors and speakers for their cooperation and support in presenting the symposium and preparing chapters for this book.
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This book should have broad appeal to chemists and others concerned with the manufacture and use of chemical products in an environmentally responsible manner. Certainly, basic researchers from academia, industry, and government should find the specific results and methodologies both useful and thought-provoking. The techniques and tools discussed in this book should also be of interest to those decision-makers who determine which syntheses will be used to manufacture chemical substances. In many ways, the message of the book—that dramatic advances can be made in pollution prevention by using the talents of synthetic chemists— is as important as the research itself.
Downloaded by 80.82.77.83 on May 12, 2018 | https://pubs.acs.org Publication Date: November 18, 1994 | doi: 10.1021/bk-1994-0577.pr001
Disclaimer
This book was edited by Paul T. Anastas and Carol A. Farris in their private capacities. No official support or endorsement of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is intended or should be inferred.
PAUL T. ANASTAS CAROL A. FARRIS Office of Pollution Prevention and Toxics U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Washington, DC 20460 September 13, 1994
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Anastas and Farris; Benign by Design ACS Symposium Series; American Chemical Society: Washington, DC, 1994.
In Memoriam
Downloaded by 80.82.77.83 on May 12, 2018 | https://pubs.acs.org Publication Date: November 18, 1994 | doi: 10.1021/bk-1994-0577.pr001
KENNETH G. HANCOCK was Director of the Division of Chemistry, Mathematics and Physical Sciences Directorate of the National Science Foundation (NSF). He died suddenly and unexpectedly on September 10, 1993, in Budapest, Hungary, while attending an international environmental chemistry workshop with colleagues from France, Hungary, and several Eastern European countries. Ken's death was a shock and loss to his family, his colleagues, and his friends. Ken, an excellent chemist, administrator, teacher, and dedicated civil servant, was a graduate cum laudefromHarvard University in 1963. Following his graduate studies at the University of Wisconsin (Ph.D., 1968), he became a tenured associate professor of chemistry at the University of California—Davis. He joined the NSF staff in 1977. Ken played a leadership role in a number of areas at NSF, including international affairs and the fostering of environmentally benign chemical synthesis and processing. Ken's commitment to green chemistry and pollution prevention has prompted the establishment of the Kenneth G. Hancock Pollution Prevention Fund to be administered by the American Chemical Society's Division of Environmental Chemistry, Inc. The Fund will "recognize student achievement in environmental chemistry, especially in environmentally benign chemical synthesis and processing" through scholarships to undergraduate and graduate students. Contributions may be made to the following address. The Kenneth G. Hancock Pollution Prevention Fund American Chemical Society Development Office 1155 16th Street, N.W. Washington, DC 20036 This book is one of several that are being published in his memory.
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