Green Solvents

Tutik Dwi Wahyuningsih

Prodi Ilmu kimia FMIPA UGM
2013
OUTLINE
 Introduction
 Safer/greener solvent
 Solvent Substitution
 No solvent / solventless reaction
 Water
 New solvents
 Carbon dioxide
 Ionic liquids
 Lactate esters
 Fluorous phase reactions
Safer Solvents and Auxiliaries

The use of auxiliary substances (solvents,

separation agents, etc.) should be made
unnecessary whenever possible and, when
used, innocuous.

(c) 2010 Beyond Benign - All Rights

Reserved.
The need for alternative solvents

 Play a major role in many areas of technology

 Provide many opportunities for improvement of
environmental aspects.
 Represent a very large proportion of the volatile
organic compounds (VOCs) released into the
atmosphere.
 UK solvents market - £4,000 million p.a.
 £1,000 million spent on environmental technology,
much of which is end of pipe equipment and
associated operating costs to clean up emissions
and air.
Alternative Solvents for Synthesis
 Widely used throughout the chemical industry
 Synthetic Chemistry
 Reaction medium on laboratory and industrial scale
 Extensively used in work-up and purification (usually
more than for reaction medium)
 Analytical Chemistry
 Sample extraction and preparation (Spectroscopy)
 Chromatography mobile phase (HPLC, TLC etc.)
 Crystallisation
 Recrystallisation to purify compounds and prepare
crystals suitable for analysis
Other applications of solvents
 Used much more widely than just synthetic
chemistry
 Coatings:
 Paints, adhesives
 Solvent usually removed by evaporation after application
leaving coating behind
 Coating removal
 Cleaning
 E.g. Dry cleaning – extensive use of perchloroethylene, a
known cancer suspect agent, which also contaminates
groundwater supplies
 Extraction
 E.g. Coffee decaffeination (benzene, CH2Cl2)
 •

C.-J. Li, McGill University

Solvents as a Reaction Medium

 Used to bring reactants together at suitable

concentrations, usually in batch processes
 Energy control
 Endothermic reactions require energy – heat can be
supplied by heating solution
 Exothermic reactions – solvent acts as a heat sink
preventing runaway reactions. Heat can be removed by
allowing solvent to boil.
 Efficient mixing and stirring
 Addition of solid reagents as a solution
Solvent extraction
 Very important part of reaction sequence – need to
consider whole process – NOT JUST REACTION
ITSELF.
 Often more solvent is used in work-up than as reaction
medium.
 Compounds dissolved in one solvent shaken with
water to remove inorganic impurities, or other water
soluble contaminants. Generates aqueous waste as
well as organic waste, both of which will require
disposal.
 Solutes usually remain in the non-aqueous solvent,
which is then concentrated, and waste solvent
discarded (often incinerated generating CO2).
Problems with VOC’s
 Direct
 Varying toxicity depending on nature of VOC, exposure method and
duration.
 E.g. DMF (teratogenic), CHCl3 (suspect carcinogen)
 Flammability (fire hazards)
 Peroxide formation (usually ethers)
 Indirect
 Ozone depletion
 Chlorofluorocarbons (CFC’s) now phased out
 E.g. CF3Cl, lifetime in atmosphere 640 years, GWP 14,000
 CCl4 – now much more limited use (35yrs, GWP 1400)
 Global warming potential (GWP)
 Does not have to be ozone depleting to have GWP
 E.g. HFC134a (CH2FCF3) used in refrigerants and air conditioning units,
14yrs, GWP 1300
 Environmental persistence
 Use of less volatile solvents may improve environment as long as
they do not lead to problems elsewhere.
Strategies of solvent replacement

 Avoid or minimise solvents in first place

 Use less toxic solvents
 Use renewable solvents (not derived from
petrochemicals)
 Avoid VOC’s – solvents with low vapour
pressure / high boiling points may be
preferable as long as this does not lead to
other complications.
Solvent replacement in synthetic chemistry
 Can be very difficult to replace solvents.
 As reaction media:
 Solvents have a substantial effect on a reaction,
allowing a degree of control not possible in its
absence
 Can affect:
 Rates of reaction
 Chemo-, regio- and stereoselectivity

 Outcome of reaction – may not work at all, or may

do something totally different!
 If can be exploited then may give extra
incentive for adoption of new technology.
 Solvent Selection

Preferred Useable Undesirable

Water Cyclohexane Pentane
Acetone Heptane Hexane(s)
Ethanol Toluene Di-isopropyl ether
2-Propanol Methylcyclohexane Diethyl ether
1-Propanol Methyl t-butyl ether Dichloromethane
Ethyl acetate Isooctane Dichloroethane
Isopropyl acetate Acetonitrile Chloroform
Methanol 2-MethylTHF Dimethyl formamide
Methyl ethyl ketone Tetrahydrofuran N-Methylpyrrolidinone
1-Butanol Xylenes Pyridine
t-Butanol Dimethyl sulfoxide Dimethyl acetate
Acetic acid Dioxane
Ethylene glycol Dimethoxyethane
Benzene
Carbon tetrachloride

“Green chemistry tools to influence a medicinal chemistry and research chemistry based organization”
Dunn and Perry, et. al., Green Chem., 2008, 10, 31-36
(c) 2010 Beyond Benign - All Rights
Reserved.
Red Solvent Flash point (°C) Reason

Pentane -49 Very low flash point, good alternative available.

Hexane(s) -23 More toxic than the alternative heptane, classified as a HAP in the US.

Di-isopropyl ether -12 Very powerful peroxide former, good alternative ethers available.
Diethyl ether -40 Very low flash point, good alternative ethers available.
Dichloromethane n/a High volume use, regulated by EU solvent directive, classified as HAP in
US.
Dichloroethane 15 Carcinogen, classified as a HAP in the US.
Chloroform n/a Carcinogen, classified as a HAP in the US.
Dimethyl formamide 57 Toxicity, strongly regulated by EU Solvent Directive, classified as HAP in
the US.
N-Methylpyrrolidinone 86 Toxicity, strongly regulated by EU Solvent Directive.
Pyridine 20 Carcinogenic/mutagenic/reprotoxic (CMR) category 3 carcinogen, toxicity,
very low threshold limit value (TLV) for worker exposures.
Dimethyl acetate 70 Toxicity, strongly regulated by EU Solvent Directive.
Dioxane 12 CMR category 3 carcinogen, classified as HAP in US.
Dimethoxyethane 0 CMR category 2 carcinogen, toxicity.
Benzene -11 Avoid use: CMR category 1 carcinogen, toxic to humans and environment,
very low TLV (0.5 ppm), strongly regulated in EU and the US (HAP).
Carbon tetrachloride n/a Avoid use: CMR category 3 carcinogen, toxic, ozone depletor, banned
under the Montreal protocol, not available for large-scale use, strongly
regulated in the EU and the US (HAP).

“Green chemistry tools to influence a medicinal chemistry and research chemistry based organization”
Dunn and Perry, et. al., Green Chem., 2008, 10, 31-36
(c) 2010 Beyond Benign - All Rights
Reserved.
 Solvent replacement table

Undesirable Solvent Alternative

Pentane Heptane
Hexane(s) Heptane
Di-isopropyl ether or diethyl ether 2-MeTHF or tert-butyl methyl ether
Dioxane or dimethoxyethane 2-MeTHF or tert-butyl methyl ether
Chloroform, dichloroethane or carbon Dichloromethane
tetrachloride
Dimethyl formamide, dimethyl acetamide Acetonitrile
or N-methylpyrrolidinone
Pyridine Et3N (if pyridine is used as a base)
Dichloromethane (extractions) EtOAc, MTBE, toluene, 2-MeTHF
Dichloromethane (chromatography) EtOAc/heptane
Benzene Toluene

“Green chemistry tools to influence a medicinal chemistry and research chemistry based organization”
Dunn and Perry, et. al., Green Chem., 2008, 10, 31-36

(c) 2010 Beyond Benign - All Rights

Reserved.
Current approaches to solvent replacement
in synthetic chemistry
 No solvent
 Water
 Carbon dioxide
 Ionic liquids
 Lactate esters
 Fluorous phase reactions
All have advantages and disadvantages which
need to be considered when assessing suitability
for replacement
 Supercritical
fluids
Water
Ionic liquids

No
Solvent

Lactate
Perfluorinated
esters
hydrocarbons
Water as a reaction medium
 One of the most obvious alternatives to VOCs.
 Cheap, readily available, and plentiful (in the
UK!)
 Useful for certain types of reaction but limited
because of:
 Low solubility of organic substrates
 Compatibility with reagents
 Clean up of aqueous waste difficult
 Useful in biphasic processes in conjunction
with other solvents
Water : A Green Solvent With
A Difference……..
Water is the best solvent among all the
green solvents because of its many
advantages such as…..
* Environmental benefits
* Safety
* Synthetic efficiency
* Simple operation
* Cost effective
* Potential for new synthetic methodologies
 Water as dual activator medium
* Hydrogen bonding in water endows a unique characteristic
- dual activator property.
* Water can activate both – nucleophiles & electrophiles, and
hence accelerates polar reactions.
 Supercritical Fluids
(SCFs)
A pure fluid is supercritical
when it is above its Tc & Pc.
In the Supercritical region
the substance is neither a
gas nor a liquid – it is a
fluid that has properties of
both.

There are no sharp

boundaries between gas
and liquid.

Properties of SCFs can be

very different from the
normal liquid phase.

Fluid Tc (* C) Pc (bar) d (g/cc)

Carbon 31.1 73.4 0.46

dioxide
 Possible advantages of
supercritical fluids

* increased solubilities of reactants or products

* single homogeneous phase, no transport limitations
* SCFs such as water, CO2 can be recovered, or
disposed of with little or no environmental impact
* reaction conditions can be fine-tuned by
varying pressure and/or temperature
* separation step can be eliminated
* organic compounds are soluble in SCW,
inorganic salts are insoluble  SCWO
 Phase diagram for pure CO2
© Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute

SOLID
Pressure (bar)

SUPERCRITICAL
Critical FLUID

•
point
74
LIQUID

Triple

•
point
5.1
GAS

-78 ºC -56.3ºC 31.1ºC

Temperature (ºC)
Carbon Dioxide
 Similar advantages to water
 Natural, cheap, plentiful (too much of it!)

 Available in >99.9% pure form, £70/$110 per 25kg.

 By-product of brewing, ammonia synthesis, combustion

 Already being adopted in a variety of commercial processes (see

later)
 Non-toxic and properties well understood
 asphyxiant at high concentrations

 Easily removed and recycled, and can be disposed of with no net

increase in global CO2
 Simple product isolation by evaporation, to 100% dryness.

 No solvent effluent
 Potential for product processing (extraction, particle formation,
chromatography etc.)
SCFs are intermediate between liquids and gases

Solid Liquid

Supercritical Fluid Gas

Other advantages of scCO2
 High compressibility
 Large change in solvent properties for relatively small change in
pressure – infinite range of solvent properties available
 Ability to tune solvent to favour a particular reaction pathway
simply by optimising temperature or pressure
 Small amounts of cosolvents can further modify solvent
properties
 High diffusion rates offer potential for increased reaction rates.
 Potential for homogeneous catalytic processes.
 High solubility of light gases, some catalysts and substrates;
bring all together in single homogeneous phase
 Inert to oxidation; resistant to reduction
 Excellent medium for oxidation and reduction reactions.
Problems using scCO2
 Moderate pressures required
 Standard HPLC apparatus used in lab, reactors made of
stainless steel, many commercially available.
 Can be expensive for large scale work

 Weak solvent
 Relatively non-polar, but high quadrupole moment. Use of co-
solvents (MeOH, MeCN, THF, toluene)
 Simple modification of reagents to improve solubility

 Energy considerations
 Compression of CO2 requires energy

 Energy consumption reduced minimal decompression and

recycling
 Reacts in the presence of good nucleophiles
 Often reversible, can be exploited synthetically
 Ionic Liquids ( IL’s
Ionic liquids )are salts which are fluid at ambient temperatures.
They have several advantages over conventional molecular
solvents, which make them environmentally compatible
:

•Dissolves many different inorganic and organic materials

•Highly polar
•Consist of loosely co-ordinating bulky ions
•Very low vapor pressure
•Liquid window of up to 300 ºC enabling wide kinetic control
•Most liquids thermally stable >200 ºC
•Immiscible with many organic solvents
•Non-aqueous polar alternatives for phase transfer processes
•Relatively inexpensive
•Easy to handle and store
Ionic liquids (IL’s)
 Typically consist of organic cation (often ammonium
or phosphonium salt) and inorganic anion
•BF4- Me
Me •Zn2Cl5-
N
+ N N+
Me OH
1. Ethylmethylimidazolium 2.Choline chloride/Zinc chloride
tetrafluoroborate, [emim][BF4] ionic liquid

 Usually only consider IL’s which are liquid at room

temperature
 Great variety of structures possible
 Very low vapour pressure – attractive alternative to
VOCs.
Ionic liquids cont….
 Good solvents for a wide range of organic, inorganic and
polymeric compounds
 Anion and cation can be fine tuned to give a wide range
of solvent properties (e.g. hydrophilic, hydrophobic)
which can be exploited
 Wide range of reactions already demonstrated in this
medium
 Can be used in conjunction with other alternative
solvents (particularly CO2)
 Claimed to be recyclable (essential for widespread use)
although there may be regulatory problems with this.
 Effectively, properties similar to many other high boiling,
polar solvents.
Ionic liquids cont….
 But…
 Expensive compared to other solvents although cheaper
versions are appearing
 Have to be prepared
 usually involved use of other solvents so must have real
advantages
 Work-up to separate/extract products usually involves
other solvents
 Recycling also usually involves other solvents to extract
unwanted residues
 Questionable toxicity – some certainly are toxic and have
been shown to have a detrimental effect on aquatic life –
problem as not VOC so will tend to persist in local
environment, on land/sea etc.
 Still require disposal at end of life (incineration?)
Ionic liquids

Provided by Prof. C.-J. Li