Green chemical reactions [proceedings of the NATO Advanced Study Institute on New Organic Chemistry Reactions and Methodologies for Green Production, Lecce, Italy, 29 October - 10 November 2006

Green Chemistry is an inventive science based on fundamental research towards the development of new sustainable chemical processes. There is a great need to create a new type of chemistry focused on a new production system, in order to prepare the younger generation to get a greener future. The globalization pushes the chemistry community to adopt ethical issues. In this prospect Green Chemistry can achieve the approval of the society by teaching students to be confident in science and at the same time by convincing people that it is possible to attain technological development with respect and care for the environment we live in. This is why it is of foremost importance that education and fundamental research remain strictly connected, so that democracy and development can grow and progress side by side. This book has been prepared to extend the knowledge of Green Chemistry not disregarding, however, the industrial interest. It is the result of the effort to put together and share the expertise of leading practitioners in the field of Green Chemistry. The Interuniversity Consortium ‘Chemistry for the Environment’ is a non-profit organisation established in 1993 in Italy. At present it includes 31 member universities and 80 research units. Front Matter....Pages i-xvi An Introduction to Green Chemistry....Pages 1-11 The Possibility to Obtain a New Generation of Ionic Liquids Starting From Natural Compounds....Pages 13-35 Catalysis in Ionic Liquids: A Key to Sustainable Chemistry....Pages 37-78 Ionic Liquids for Spectroscopy; Spectroscopy for Ionic Liquids....Pages 79-104 Chemical Reactions and Related Phase Behavior in Supercritical Co 2 and Co 2 /Ionic Liquid Mixtures....Pages 105-129 Water-Based Metal Remediation Processes: Basics and Novel Developments....Pages 131-153 ‘Greener’ Organic Syntheses Under Non-Traditional Conditions Using Microwave and Ultrasound Irradiation and Mechanochemical Mixing....Pages 155-171 The Greenest Reagent in Organic Synthesis: Light....Pages 173-189 Hydrogen Peroxide in Green Oxidation Reactions: Recent Catalytic Processes....Pages 191-212 Dimethyl Carbonate: Green Solvent and Ambident Reagent....Pages 213-232