Pure Appl. Chem., 2000, Vol. 72, No. 7, pp. ii
Preface
The evolving face of contemporary chemistry is characterized
by unprecedented societal demand for the goods and services of the
chemical industry, tempered by growing awareness that finite resources
must be conserved and their exploitation optimized. At the same time,
environmental protection has become a global concern, and the chemical
industry is increasingly obliged to reexamine conventional methodologies,
and to seek ways of developing and applying more efficient and environmentally
benign strategies for future sustainable growth. The tandem concepts
of discovery and exploitation are obviously as old as the industry
itself, but there is new urgency in the quest for solutions that will
halt and reverse some of the negative effects of historical development
and, at the same time, seize the opportunities offered by the extraordinary
advances in chemical sciences during recent years.
The twin challenges of increasing synthetic efficiency
in chemical transformations, and minimizing environmentally hostile
waste offer irresistible opportunities for new-age ingenuity. It is
in this climate that new approaches to these problems have coalesced
into a distinctive discipline, which has been variously described
and named but has, as its central thrust, the strategic objectives
of increased efficiency, sustainability, and, ultimately, societal
benefit. These objectives identify closely with the vision of IUPAC,
which is eloquently expressed in two of the goals defined in the current
strategic plan, namely to contribute to the advancement of research
in the chemical sciences throughout the world and to assist chemistry-related
industry in its contributions to sustainable development, wealth creation,
and the improvement of the quality of life.
A Working Party on Synthetic Pathways and Processes
in Green Chemistry was established in 1996, under the auspices of
the Commission on Physical Organic Chemistry (Commission III.2) of
the IUPAC Organic and Biomolecular Division, with a mandate to promote
and disseminate awareness of environmentally compatible synthetic
pathways (green chemistry), throughout the academic and industrial
scientific research community. In 1999 this group, in close collaboration
with the IUPAC Subcommittee on Organic Synthesis, initiated a project
to publish a Symposium-in-Print on Green Chemistry, and undertook
to compile a collection of expert reviews on aspects of the topic,
underpinned by an introductory account of the evolution of the project,
its rationale, and its interfaces with complementary initiatives and
organisations.
This volume represents the culmination of that undertaking,
and the introductory overview, comprising contributions by members
of the Working Party, gives a detailed account of the role and interest
of IUPAC in promoting this initiative, and sets the scene for the
ensuing Symposium-in-Print, with an interpretation of the meaning
of the term "green chemistry" and an account of the historical emergence
of the concept. This is followed by a synoptic preamble, in which
the content and purpose of individual reviews in the Symposium-in-Print
are summarized. Although the preamble adopts a sequence of presentation
based upon the logic imposed by the title theme of synthetic pathways
and processes, the influential role of the Organization for Economic
Cooperation and Development (OECD) is recognized by adoption of their
recommended delineation of topics for grouping the ensuing reviews.
The Symposium-in-Print sets out to capture the current status of
the discipline and to project the boundless opportunities and challenges
confronting contemporary organic synthesis and its practice in a changing
world, increasingly sensitized to the finite bounds of natural resources
and the vulnerability of the biosphere. It offers evidence that current
problems are being addressed and can be solved, and engenders expectations
that future problems can be anticipated and prevented. Most importantly,
the collective expertise and commitment of the contributors is expected
to furnish inspirational guidance to practicing scientists and students
of chemistry, to participate in shaping a more environmentally benign
future, in which the synthetic pathways and processes in chemistry
are fully reconciled with societal expectations for ever-improving
quality of life.
IUPAC Special Topics Editor
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