Augsburgs greener way to do chemistry

Greener science. (Alex Friedrich / MPR)

Ive just been introduced to green science.

Im in Prof. Michael Wentzels organic chemistry class, and hes showing his students how to do chemistry in a more environmentally friendly way Benign by design, as he puts it.

Theyre reproducing a fluorescent substance found in scorpions but doing it without generating all the waste thats usually produced in such chemical processes.

Wentzel uses a combination of heating and mixing to enable his components to form chemical bonds, thus avoiding the use of solvents and thus taking one more chemical out of the equation.

And to get his components to react with each other more efficiently, Wentzel uses a polymer styrene catalyst instead of the usual toxic mineral acid.

The professor tells me:

Its how we should train scientists now. Companies want scientists that know the way to design chemistry to be more environmentally friendly. Chemistry doesnt need to be a fixer of problems. It can be a way to never have the problems in the first place.

Alex Friedrich reports on higher education issues for MPR News. Among the stories he has covered: the fall of the Berlin Wall, aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, collapse of the I-35W bridge in Minneapolis, 2003 Moscow suicide bombing and 2004 presidential elections in the Republic of Georgia. He holds a bachelors degree in journalism from the University of Georgia and a masters in European political economy from the London School of Economics.

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Augsburgs greener way to do chemistry