Our latest blog series is designed to guide chemists towards a greener, more sustainable laboratory. Each of our blogs will explore one principle. If you missed previous ones, they can be found here.
Eleventh Principle: Real-Time Analysis for Pollution Prevention
Analytical methodologies need to be further developed to allow for real-time, in-process monitoring and control prior to the formation of hazardous substances.
From Blind Driving to Clear Vision
As noted in earlier entries, many of the twelve principles of green chemistry emphasize foresight and planning. The eleventh principle, however, is focusing on monitoring.
Douglas Raynie, Assistant Professor of Chemistry & Biochemistry at South Dakota State University, illustrates this with a vivid metaphor: managing a chemical process without real-time monitoring is like “driving down a busy highway in a car with all the windows painted an opaque black.”¹ In other words, without visibility, you’re relying on guesswork—a risky approach in any scientific setting.
Raynie highlights the role of the Center for Process Analysis & Control (CPAC), a federation of industry members, national laboratories, and government agencies dedicated to advancing analytical sciences.² While CPAC’s work is not always explicitly labeled as “green chemistry,” the in-process, real-time monitoring techniques they develop align closely with this principle’s goal: “to minimize or eliminate the formation of byproducts“ during synthesis.2
Why Monitoring Matters
Implementing in-process controls during synthesis does more than just verify compliance—it helps determine reaction endpoints, detect incomplete couplings, and optimize each step of the process. These capabilities directly contribute to reducing reagent and solvent use, shortening processing time, and minimizing waste—all key to greener chemistry but also to an optimized cost-effective process.
Although installing monitoring systems may involve upfront costs, the long-term benefits—such as identifying and understanding process deviations — can lead to substantial savings in time and reagents and therefore will pay for itself rapidly In this way, real-time analysis is not just an operational tool but a strategic investment in safer, more sustainable chemical processes.
References
- https://www.acs.org/content/acs/en/greenchemistry/principles/12-principles-of-green-chemistry.html
- http://cpac.apl.washington.edu/