A Perspective on the Contribution of Surfactants and Lipids Toward 'Green Chemistry'. Present States and Future Potential

摘要

"Green Chemistry" has become a subject of in- creasing interest in recent years. The goal of efforts in this area is to develop environmentally friendly methods and processes to replace traditional reactions that use organic solvents, con- sume much energy, and generate undesirable by-products and/or waste. Utilization of renewable resources is an impor- tant component of Green Chemistry. Fats and oils represent one such resource. They can give rise to many types of surfac- tants and lipids that can modify properties of boundary phases between different phases. Thus, phase-transfer cata- lysts (PTC) based on surfactants or lipids have been reported to be useful in reactions such as oxidation and hydration reac- tions and in glycidyl ether formation. Another approach to sat- isfying Green Chemistry requirements is the recovery and re- cycling of reactants and/or substrates used. In the preparation of alkyl glyceryl ethers, the intermediate 1 ,3-dioxolane com- pounds prepared by addition of acetone to alkyl glycidyl ethers can be hydrolyzed to regenerate reusable acetone. Other examples of methodologies based on surfactants or lipids are summarized, and their potential contribution to Green Chemistry is discussed.