Green analytical chemistry: evolution, applications and greenness evaluation (6 CFU)
Teacher: A. Speltini, e-mail: andrea.speltini@unipv.it
When: January-February
In recent years, green analytical chemistry has evolved in the framework of “Green Chemistry” with the aim of reducing the environmental impact resulting from the application of analytical methods, while pursuing ever greater protection of operator safety. From a practical viewpoint, this means implementing sustainability principles in the daily practice, for instance by reducing energy and reagents consumption, limiting as much as possible the use of toxic or otherwise dangerous substances, and considering new and alternative analytical approaches to this end. A step change is therefore needed to develop methods that are increasingly sustainable but that, at the same time, meet the specific demands in terms of accuracy, sensitivity and reproducibility.
This course will cover various case studies regarding both the trace and ultra-trace determination of substances of various nature, including pharmacologically active compounds, in complex matrices (i.e. food, biological and environmental), and analytical applications involved in preparations relative to the chemical-pharmaceutical sector.
Sustainability will be defined through the application of software specifically dedicated to the evaluation of the greenness.
Starting from real examples, in this context the aspects related to the key principles of green analytical chemistry will be considered, deepening their application regarding both sample preparation and instrumental analysis. Particular attention will be devoted to strategies to improve, from a green point of view, isolation, extraction and cleanup protocols, as well as to new strategies that can be implemented in the field of hyphenated chromatographic techniques.
The course aims to provide in a simple and immediate way a complete and updated vision both to develop and to critically evaluate protocols and methods from a green perspective.
Final examination: discussion of a work taken from the recent scientific literature related to one of the topics covered in the course.