The Journal of Chemical Education announces a call for papers for an upcoming virtual special issue on Action for Climate Empowerment in Chemistry Education.

Hydrogels are soft water-rich materials with physical properties that can be easily tuned by modifying their network structure. For instance, increasing or decreasing the cross-linking density has a profound effect on their water absorption capabilities and mechanical strength. These physical changes are showcased in a new experiment for organic chemistry and polymer science teaching laboratories based on the practical green synthesis and characterization of lactose methacrylate derived hydrogels. Lactose, a disaccharide derived from dairy waste byproducts, is functionalized with photoreactive methacrylate groups using methacrylic anhydride. The resulting mixture is subsequently photoirradiated to generate a cross-linked hydrogel. Structure-property relationships are assessed through comparative studies of three hydrogels of varying compositions. Compression tests and swelling studies in different aqueous environments offer a guided-inquiry experience. Students determine a relationship between cross-linking density and the physical properties of the hydrogels. This experiment highlights the valorization of biomass and multiple green chemistry principles including use of renewable feedstocks, atom economy, energy efficiency, waste prevention, and water as a benign solvent. Learning outcomes for an organic chemistry laboratory course include introduction to disaccharide and cross-linked polymer structures, observable physical change dependency with cross-linking density, and laboratory methods for evaluating water absorption capacities. Objectives aligned with a polymer course are incorporating mechanical compression instrumentation, mechanistic understanding of light-induced free radical polymerizations, and an appreciation for the application of hydrogels to commercial products. Overall, the translation of a current literature publication to an inexpensive and versatile experiment engages students in a modern example of sustainable polymer chemistry.

Teaching experiments involving edible, biodegradable calcium alginate beads serve as an attractive model system to introduce upper secondary age students to core chemistry topics through innovations in sustainable consumer products. A teaching experiment is described that engages students with the synthesis of calcium alginate hydrogel beads from sodium alginate and calcium lactate, two food-safe and renewable materials. The beads' outer membranes are a result of ionic interactions between carboxylate groups from alginate strands and the divalent calcium cations between them, thus forming cross-linked polymers. Protonation of the carboxylate groups on the alginate strands decreases crosslinking density affecting bead formation. First, various concentrations of citric acid are used to lower the pH of the sodium alginate solution and the effect on the calcium alginate bead formation is observed. A correlation between pH and bead shape and firmness is derived. This information is then used to explore juices with varying natural acidities. The experiment is amenable to implementation in the classroom or as an at-home activity. Learning outcomes include acid-base reactions, chemical bonding, polymer structures, and green chemistry concepts. Students consider the environmental challenges of traditional plastics used in packaging and how innovative new commercial products are attempting to provide solutions.

Comprehensive curricula are described for middle and high school classrooms built around the synthesis of biodegradable calcium alginate capsules prepared from food-safe chemicals. Experiments and activities question whether calcium alginate capsules are a viable alternative to single-use water bottles and consider what characteristics are required to become commercially successful. Students prepare calcium alginate capsules using sodium alginate and calcium lactate and observe the physical properties of the fluid-filled pod. In the high school curriculum, capsules using alternative group 2 cation salts are made and compared qualitatively to the calcium alginate capsules. After exploring the capsules, students work collaboratively to design an inquiry experiment. The high school curriculum offers extensions such as analyzing a related literature article and creating professional research posters on their inquiry experiments. The middle school curriculum includes a scaffolded introduction on the topics of renewable vs nonrenewable resources and introduces simple polymer definitions and the concept of cross-linking through use of models. Both curricula align with Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) around designing solutions to modern problems and carrying out investigations. Additionally, the experiment is ideal for safe, remote-learning instruction. Overarching connections between science and society are highlighted through the global plastics problem, and potential solutions are presented using the green chemistry principles of renewable feedstocks, design for degradation, and less hazardous chemical synthesis.

Transforming how plastics are made, unmade, and remade through innovative research and diverse partnerships that together foster environmental stewardship is critically important to a sustainable future. Designing, preparing, and implementing polymers derived from renewable resources for a wide range of advanced applications that promote future economic development, energy efficiency, and environmental sustainability are all central to these efforts. In this Chemical Reviews contribution, we take a comprehensive, integrated approach to summarize important and impactful contributions to this broad research arena. The Review highlights signature accomplishments across a broad research portfolio and is organized into four wide-ranging research themes that address the topic in a comprehensive manner: Feedstocks, Polymerization Processes and Techniques, Intended Use, and End of Use. We emphasize those successes that benefitted from collaborative engagements across disciplinary lines.

The Journal of Chemical Education's Special Issue on Chemical Safety Education: Methods, Culture, and Green Chemistry is a collection of 38 peer-reviewed papers on the topic of chemical safety education. The papers in the Special Issue are broadly distributed among Resources, Green Chemistry, Safety Culture, and Pedagogy.

The Journal of Chemical Education’s Special Issue on Chemical Safety Education: Methods, Culture, and Green Chemistry is a collection of 38 peer-reviewed papers on the topic of chemical safety educ...

ADVERTISEMENT RETURN TO ISSUEPREVHighlightNEXTHighlights: Safety Blogs, Alane Reduction, Postlockdown Process Safety Concerns, and MoreSubmit contributions to [email protected] and be coauthored, or share ideas on social media with #SafetyHighlightsFrankie Wood-Black*Frankie Wood-BlackSophic Pursuits, Tonkawa, Oklahoma 74653, United States*E-mail: [email protected]More by Frankie Wood-Blackhttp://orcid.org/0000-0001-7768-2140, Michael B. Blayney*Michael B. BlayneyResearch Safety, Northwestern University, 2145 Sheridan Road, Evanston, Illinois 60208, United States*E-mail: [email protected]More by Michael B. Blayneyhttp://orcid.org/0000-0002-2087-5045, Marc Reid*Marc ReidSchool of Chemistry, University of Bristol, Cantock's Close, Bristol BS8 1TS, United Kingdom*E-mail[email protected]More by Marc Reidhttp://orcid.org/0000-0003-4394-3132, Scott GoodeScott GoodeDepartment of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of South Carolina, 631 Sumter Street, Columbia, South Carolina 29208, United StatesMore by Scott Goodehttp://orcid.org/0000-0001-5445-5682, Jane WissingerJane WissingerChemistry, University of Minnesota Twin Cities, 207 Pleasant Street SE, Minneapolis, Minnesota 55455, United StatesMore by Jane Wissingerhttp://orcid.org/0000-0002-9240-3629, Benjamin WilliamsBenjamin WilliamsResearch Safety, Northwestern University, 2145 Sheridan Road, Evanston, Illinois 60208, United StatesMore by Benjamin Williamshttp://orcid.org/0000-0003-1652-8160, and Jiaqi LiJiaqi LiDepartment of Chemistry, Northwestern University, K140, 2145 Sheridan Road, Evanston, Illinois 60208-0001, United StatesMore by Jiaqi LiCite this: ACS Chem. Health Saf. 2021, 28, 1, 10–13Publication Date (Web):January 8, 2021Publication History Published online8 January 2021Published inissue 25 January 2021https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acs.chas.0c00124https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.chas.0c00124newsACS PublicationsCopyright © Published 2021 by American Chemical Society. This publication is available under these Terms of Use. Request reuse permissions This publication is free to access through this site. Learn MoreArticle Views974Altmetric-Citations-LEARN ABOUT THESE METRICSArticle Views are the COUNTER-compliant sum of full text article downloads since November 2008 (both PDF and HTML) across all institutions and individuals. These metrics are regularly updated to reflect usage leading up to the last few days.Citations are the number of other articles citing this article, calculated by Crossref and updated daily. Find more information about Crossref citation counts.The Altmetric Attention Score is a quantitative measure of the attention that a research article has received online. Clicking on the donut icon will load a page at altmetric.com with additional details about the score and the social media presence for the given article. Find more information on the Altmetric Attention Score and how the score is calculated. Share Add toView InAdd Full Text with ReferenceAdd Description ExportRISCitationCitation and abstractCitation and referencesMore Options Share onFacebookTwitterWechatLinked InRedditEmail PDF (665 KB) Get e-AlertscloseSUBJECTS:Anions,Oxidation reactions,Oxides,Redox reactions,Safety,Two dimensional materials Get e-Alerts

Abstract A 3-year IUPAC project Systems Thinking in Chemistry for Sustainability: Toward 2030 and Beyond (STCS 2030+, IUPAC Project #2020-014-3-050) [1] launched in late 2020 is breaking important new ground in addressing chemistry’s orientations, roles, and responsibilities in the 21st Century and helping to map out implications for chemistry education, research, and practice. In taking on this ambitious task, STCS 2030+ draws on expertise available within IUPAC’s own structures, as a project co-sponsored by three IUPAC standing committees: the Committee on Chemistry Education (CCE), the Committee on Chemistry and Industry (COCI) and the Interdivisional Committee on Green Chemistry for Sustainable Development (ICGCSD). The project is also working with other organizations, such as the International Organization for Chemical Sciences in Development (IOCD), which is a co-supporter, and involves collaborators with individuals from organizations that include the Stockholm Resilience Centre [2], the American Chemical Society (ACS) Green Chemistry Institute [3], the International Year of Basic Sciences for Sustainable Development (IYBSSD 2022-23) [4], and chemistry educators and chemical industry from around the world.

Earth Day 2021, with the theme of "Restore Our Earth", along with Chemists Celebrate Earth Week 2021 from ACS with the theme "Reducing Our Footprint with Chemistry", provides a rich opportunity to reflect on the extent to which we integrate sustainability into chemistry education. Chemistry plays a central interdisciplinary role among all the sciences. It provides the essential key to understanding chemical processes and products operating within and among physical, biological, ecological, and engineered systems with far-reaching impacts on the health and well-being of people and our planet. Capitalizing on this pivotal role requires interchanges of knowledge among all these disciplines as well as the social sciences, humanities, and the arts, so that we can tease out the specific knowledge relevant to sustainability in the chemistry curriculum. This editorial highlights how the interdisciplinary work of integrating sustainability into chemistry education can be guided by systems thinking, and by the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals and Planetary Boundaries frameworks. Such systematic approaches can energize educators and learners to situate chemistry within a broader landscape of knowledge and thus tap chemistry's potential to enhance sustainability.

This document is intended to be a framework by which members of the NSF Center for Sustainable Polymers can assess and explain their own research within the broader field of sustainable polymers.

Polymerization reaction media can have a profound effect on the physical properties of the resultant polymer. This phenomenon is showcased in a new experiment for the organic chemistry and polymer science teaching laboratories wherein the radical copolymerization of biobased beta-myrcene and dibutyl itaconate is performed using a nonhazardous aqueous emulsion solvent and compared to a bulk reaction. Both procedures demonstrate multiple green chemistry principles and application to sustainable polymer synthesis. The emulsion copolymerization produces a tacky, elastomeric cross-linked material, capable of swelling to many times its original volume in organic solvents, setting the stage for the exploration of the relationship between solvent polarity and swelling capacity. Conversely, the polymerization of beta-myrcene and dibutyl itaconate in the bulk yields a viscous noncross-linked polymer whose H-1 NMR spectrum is suitable for student analysis and estimation of polymer number-average molar mass (M-n), monomer conversion, and copolymer composition. This inexpensive experiment models the use of renewable feedstocks, the effect of reaction medium on polymer architecture, the unique properties of cross-linked organogels, and the quantitative analysis of polymer structure using H-1 NMR spectroscopy.

A three-day workshop was designed and implemented with the goals of providing the training and the resources needed for high school teachers to incorporate green and sustainable chemistry into their high school chemistry classrooms. The workshop was structured to introduce the topics of sustainability and green chemistry, hands-on laboratory experiences with experiments that modeled these concepts, and personal work time for participants to develop a plan for incorporation into their own classrooms. The laboratory workshop content allowed teachers to explore green replacement experiments for traditionally hazardous high school laboratories with an emphasis on meeting Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS). Novel polymer experiments, developed by the authors, were also performed as experiments illustrating modern approaches to sustainable plastics and how scientists are addressing the accumulation of plastics on land and in the ocean. Additionally, the polymer experiments offered a mechanism for inclusion of engineering principles into the curriculum. Lecture and laboratory content drew connections between the lesson plans and learning outcomes including the pillars of sustainability: (1) economic, (2) environmental, and (3) societal. These workshops were implemented in the state of Minnesota and attracted teachers from both rural and urban school districts. Continuing education credits were earned by all participants with the option to earn graduate credits. Feedback from three years of summer workshops (2017, 2018, and 2019) indicated nearly 100% satisfaction with the format, content, and leadership of the workshop.

A two-step synthetic sequence was developed for the undergraduate organic chemistry laboratory using vanillin as the starting material. The multi-step synthesis was designed to replace two traditional experiments teaching electrophilic aromatic substitution and carbon–carbon bond forming chemistries with greener transformations. Vanillin is iodinated using Oxone® and potassium iodide in refluxing water, and students are tasked with determining the position of aromatic substitution using 1H NMR spectroscopy. The tan, shiny, pleasant-smelling iodovanillin is subsequently used in an aqueous Suzuki-Miyaura reaction with para-methylphenylboronic acid; strategically chosen to afford a second instructive 1H NMR spectrum. Both conventional heating and microwave conditions can be employed for the palladium-catalyzed reaction. This synthetic sequence, successfully performed over multiple semesters by hundreds of students, models green chemistry principles through the use of a potentially renewable feedstock and safer reagents, the choice of water as a safer reaction solvent, and the employment of a catalytic reaction. Additionally, the sequence minimizes waste in teaching labs through use of an intermediate product.

Chemistry educators have a responsibility to teach students about the essential role the field of chemistry has in a sustainable future for the planet. Chemical products, such as pharmaceuticals, plastics, electronics, agrochemicals, and building materials, all benefit society yet unintended consequences resulting from the production and use of these products compel chemists to develop new technologies which minimize their harm. The Committee on Professional Training (CPT)'s recently adopted Supplement on "Green Chemistry in the Curriculum" promotes the inclusion of green chemistry in the undergraduate curriculum. The design of safer technologies is enabled by a systems thinking approach, which analyzes the life cycle of every component of a chemical process. The skills utilized by systems thinking in green chemistry have the potential to foresee and avoid unintended consequences of new chemical products. In this article we illustrate how the inclusion of green chemistry in general and organic chemistry courses connects structure and reactivity to a chemical's impact on the environment and human health. For example, applying green chemistry principles and systems thinking concepts to safety instruction not only teaches students to assess risk for performing a reaction but also extends to sustainability considerations such as feedstocks and waste produced. The study of the life cycle of chemicals connects green metrics and system thinking tools to recognize environmental and societal impacts. Though green chemistry curriculum materials are increasingly available, there is a need for educators to develop and assess systems thinking models for the classroom and laboratory. Overall, students equipped with the knowledge and ability to apply green and sustainable principles and the ability to make connections through systems thinking will be prepared to contribute to solving today's sustainability challenges.