1) Classify by using the following table all 12 principles of green chemistry and green engineering, indicating if some principle does not belong to any category.

COURSE “INTRODUCTION TO GREEN AND SUSTAINABLE CHEMISTRY”

Written exam – January 29, 2018 (part I)

PLAGIARISM. The Course takes plagiarism very seriously. Cutting and pasting from an article or any another person’s work is plagiarism, even if you cite them (the exception to this is “quotations”).

1) Classify by using the following table all 12 principles of green chemistry and green engineering, indicating if some principle does not belong to any category.

Reduction in: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12

Materials Waste Hazards

Toxicity Environmental impact

Energy Cost

2) */ ** Compare the two following synthesis of lactic acid methyl ester (chemical (a) and biochemical (b)) in term of green metrics, toxicity, technology, and costs, assuming that the yield of each stage is quantitative :

C O Me

H

+

H C N Me C

CN OH H

H

SO

, H

O - (NH

)

SO

Me C COOH

OH H

Me C COOMe

OH H MeOH

H

O

(a) ____________

O H

O O

H OH

OH CH₂

O

H

O

CH ₂ C

OH C

H

H O O ₃ P

C H ₃ C

C OH O O

CH C OH H ₃

O C OH

pyruvic acid 2 x D-Glyceraldehyde

3-phosphate 2-

NAD

NADH PO

H

O 2 x ADP 2 x ATP

Lactic acid CH

C OH H ₃

O C OMe

2 H

E

E

E

E = Enzyme glucose

MeOH P

H

O

(b)

3) A sample of magnetite iron ore contains 76% of the iron oxide compound Fe

O

and 24% of waste silicate minerals.

(a) What is the maximum theoretical mass of iron that can be extracted from each tonne (1000 kg) of magnetite ore by carbon reduction? [Reaction: Fe

O

+ 2C → 3Fe + 2CO

]

(b) What is the atom economy of the carbon reduction reaction?

(c) Will the atom economy be smaller, the same, or greater, if the reduction involves carbon monoxide (CO) rather than carbon (C)? Explain?

4) Analyse and discuss the following data for Italy in 2013 on (a) gross energy consumption and (b) bioenergy sources, showing the meaning of energy/power units and of all labels in the two graph).

5) The following approaches were proposed as a possible solution of the increasing plastic and electronic wastes: ”a) Make resource productivity a new yardstick for success, b) Think about reuse and recycling when designing a product, c) Make waste management, recycling and resource efficiency a policy priority, d) Integrate informal collection and dismantling networks in developing countries into new recycling regimes, e) Foster 'dematerialization' to reduce resource use and waste, f) Make manufacturers accountable for the whole product lifecycle”.

Discuss the approaches which in your opinion can better contribute to the solution of the problem of the wastes in term of entity and applicability. Do you think that important approaches were missed from the previous list? Explain.

6) * Which are the processes to produce the different types of Biodiesel? Explain why in Europe this liquid biofuel was dominant in early 2000, but now the interest in biofuels is more centred on bioethanol.

7) * In REACh which data must be provided for a chemical produced at level of 30 ton/year? What means the terms CMR, Sensitizers, PBT/vPvBs cited in the REACh Directive? The data to be provided are different for different classes of compounds and for different amount of production? Provide one example for each class.

8) There is a truism in Engineering that requires that a problem cannot be solved until it has been adequately defined.

Sustainability can be perceived as that it has not been adequately defined. Recently has been proposed a possible mean of solving the Sustainability problem from first principals, in a manner that is intended to be universal, objective, sensitive, and repeatable. The suggestion is “to measure how long it takes people to meet their needs, how effectively people use their time to meet their needs (e.g. what time-weighted fraction of needs are met), and the consumption of resources and production of wastes, throughout the population of a community.” Express your opinion on the effectiveness of this approach having reference to the commonly accepted Sustainability concept.

9) Describe briefly the four main tools and methods used in Industrial Ecology: 1) Life Cycle Assessment (LCA), 2) IPAT equation, 3) Resource metrics, and 4) Environmental footprint. Which are the theoretical elements for an IE analysis which deals with mapping resource consumption at various system boundaries?

10) Provide a brief explanation of these sentence on proteins (indicating if they are true or untrue): Proteins have a) water binding capacity, b) oil binding capacity, c) ability to coagulate on heating, d) folding and denaturation properties due to problems of conformational stability, e) an isoelectric point which differs from the one of the amino acids from which they are build, f) high polarity, g) catalytic properties in biochemical reactions.

**11) Highlight the main differences between the three polysaccharides cellulose, chitosan and pectin. Which structural features characterise their different sensitivity to acids, to hydrolysis and their practical uses? Provide suitable examples.

**12) Polyesters are a broad class of condensation polymers with quite different properties. Using PLA and DNA as examples, explain the nature of these differences on the basis of monomer composition, polymer structure and classification. Are these two polymers chiral? Have the ability to recognise itself? Explain.

**13) Ethylene glycol (HOCH

CH

OH) can be obtained by a reductive process from xylose (a C-5 natural monosaccharide, C

H

O

). Which is the stereochemistry of the second carbon in this sugar (D or L)? Write the cyclic structure for this compound and identify the alfa and beta anomers. How you classify the reaction to produce ethylene glycol: chemical process, biotechnological process, chemical process from biomass, chemical process from a bioresource, catalytic chemical process, or enzymatic process? Clarify the reasons of your choice.

________________

*/ ** Mandatory for both Eng. Chem. and Eng. Env. students * Eng. Chem. Students ** Environmental students