Designing Safer Chemicals

Closely related to the previous principle, this one is about developing products that are inherently less toxic, or that can be made from less toxic raw materials, rather than only making the synthesis process itself safer. The motivating concern is that workers in chemical industries are routinely exposed to whatever raw materials and intermediates a synthesis route uses, so choosing safer chemicals up front protects those workers from toxicity exposure. The chapter's example is adipic acid, a compound widely used in the polymer industry (notably in making nylon). The traditional starting material for synthesising adipic acid is benzene, but benzene is both carcinogenic and a volatile organic compound (VOC) that pollutes air when it evaporates. In a green technology developed by Draths and Frost, adipic acid is instead synthesised enzymatically from glucose -- replacing a carcinogenic, air-polluting petrochem …