Evaluating Feedstocks, Processes, and Products in the Teaching Laboratory: A Framework for Students To Use Metrics to Design Greener Chemistry Experiments

Exciting developments in the field of Green Chemistry spur the continuous innovation of experiments in the teaching laboratory. Beyond learning practical techniques, students can critically assess experiments using relevant metrics to propose further improvements and identify the most important interconnected impacts of these alternative products and processes. Herein we review popular laboratory experiments through the simple framework of feedstocks, processes, and products, offering data-driven methods for student evaluation of experiments used in the teaching laboratory. These evaluations employ techniques from life-cycle assessments and techno-economic analyses leveraging freely available data from online databases and safety data sheets. These methods may be used by students and educators to first assess seemingly distinct facets of a chemical transformation (energy inputs, reagent toxicity, etc.) and then relate these to meaningfully address system-wide improvements (replacing harmful solvents, reducing reagent costs, etc.).