FULL ABSTRACT FOR:

GREEN CHEMISTRY FOR SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT:

DESIGN OF SAFER PROCESSES & SAFER PRODUCTS

The chemical industry provides us with products that enhance our quality of life. However, the effects of chemical processes on the environment has become evident in the last decades: from climate change, toxic effects of commercial chemicals used in products, and the diminishing supply of clean drinking water, among many others. Industry and academia have recognized that our current trajectory is not sustainable, and that a drastic change in trajectory is needed to avert catastrophic and irreversible effects on the environment. Such a change of course requires development of environmentally-benign processes and design of chemicals that have minimal impact on humans and the environment. Green chemistry aims to address both goals, identifying solutions tailored to the availability of local resources. We demonstrate how we can address these needs by the development of catalytic methods that minimize waste and avoid use of precious metals, and development of tools for the design of commercial chemicals that have minimal toxicity and environmental impact. We discuss how to evaluate whether new technologies have true potential to effect sustainability, and how they fit in to the ultimate future of a circular economy.

Speaker Bio

Dr. Voutchkova is an Associate Professor of Green Chemistry at the George Washington University in Washington, DC. Her research group develops processes that reduce environmental impact and tools for designing safer commercial chemicals. She teaching portfolio includes undergraduate classes in Organic Chemistry, as well as graduate classes in Organometallic chemistry and Industrial Green Chemistry. She co-founded the MS Program in Environmental and Green Chemistry at GWU and is Principal founder of Designing Out Toxicity LLC, a consulting company focused on in silico methods for designing safer chemicals. Dr. Voutchkova is a graduate of Campion College, after which she obtained an International Baccalaureate from the Armand Hammer United World College in New Mexico. She obtained her BS in Chemistry from Middlebury College with financial support as a Davis scholar, and her PhD in organometallic chemistry and catalysis from Yale University. Subsequently, she was  a Research Associate at the Yale Center for Green Chemistry and Green Engineering.