Two faculty members of the University of Oregon chemistry department have developed a new approach to training chemists using practices that are environmentally sound, economically promising, and educationally innovative. The key challenge they faced in devising the new course was developing green experiments. For other experiments, they took advantage of the latest green chemistry advances reported in scientific journals and modified them to address the time constraints of a laboratory class.
Smaller quantities result in proportionately less waste.
Microscale requires them to use minuscule amounts of chemicals with unusual specialized apparatus. In other words, it has little to do with the kind of chemistry the students may eventually be asked to do when they take jobs in industry or academia. By developing this new approach to chemical education, Hutchison and Doxsee aim to train chemists who are prepared to apply innovative and environmentally benign solutions to problems in industry. Hutchison and Doxsee view this as the first step toward realizing their vision of making the UO a center for green chemistry education and research. They hope to work with foundations, the business community, government agencies, and other educators to make this center a reality.