A green metrics assessment of phosgene and phosgene-free syntheses of industrially important commodity chemicals

Synthesis plans for the following important industrial commodity chemicals using phosgene and phosgene-free chemistries have been analyzed and compared by green metrics to determine the most material-efficient routes so far developed (number of plans given in parentheses): dimethyl carbonate (DMC) (31), diphenyl carbonate (DPC) (40), diphenylurea (DPU) (23), methyl carbamate (MC) (8), methyl chloroformate (MCF) (6), methyl N -phenylcarbamate (MNPC) (25), methyl phenyl carbonate (MPC) (32), phenyl isocyanate (PI) (19), phenyl chloroformate (PCF) (10), and urea (13). Implications of these results are discussed.