{"id":15515,"date":"2026-07-27T14:26:35","date_gmt":"2026-07-27T21:26:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.hmc.edu\/about\/?p=15515"},"modified":"2026-07-27T14:26:36","modified_gmt":"2026-07-27T21:26:36","slug":"vosburg-makes-green-chemistry-practices-accessible","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.hmc.edu\/about\/2026\/07\/27\/vosburg-makes-green-chemistry-practices-accessible\/","title":{"rendered":"Vosburg Makes Green Chemistry Practices Accessible"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Vosburg Makes Green Chemistry Practices Accessible<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Harvey Mudd College chemistry faculty have developed a framework for including green chemistry components, sustainability topics and practices in their classrooms, instructional labs and research programs. In an article published in the journal Sustainability & Circularity NOW<\/em><\/a>, David Vosburg, Donald A. Strauss Professor of Chemistry, offers a comprehensive blueprint for organic chemistry laboratory instructors to create lab courses that are both scientifically rigorous and environmentally sustainable. The article also gives examples for how instructors might approach integrating green chemistry throughout the organic chemistry laboratory curriculum. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cInstructors can promote a green chemistry mindset in their students simply by asking for every experiment: What was green? What could be greener?\u201d says Vosburg. \u201cBy reimagining traditional protocols and substituting toxic chemicals, the approach builds a culture of environmental consciousness among the next generation of scientists.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The article describes how the green emphasis begins the first time HMC students step into the laboratory. On day one, students are introduced to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, specifically those related to good health, quality education, clean water and responsible consumption. Students select a goal they care about and explicitly map out how their knowledge of chemistry can help achieve it. Students are trained to evaluate the efficiency of chemical reactions using standard green metrics, such as atom economy, the ratio of waste to desired product and process mass intensity. They also use industry-standard solvent-selection guides to actively identify which chemicals are recommended, problematic or hazardous.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One of the most immediate impacts of this comprehensive approach is the systematic elimination of highly toxic solvents. Chief among them is dichloromethane, a pervasive but hazardous volatile organic compound traditionally used for extractions and chromatography. By substituting this and other dangerous chemicals with greener alternatives like ethyl acetate, acetone and heptane, the laboratory drastically reduces health risks to students and instructors while minimizing hazardous waste. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

A continually evolving and expanding collection of highly innovative, eco-friendly chemical reactions are being developed or adapted for the curriculum at Harvey Mudd and shared with educators around the world. For instance, students have joined two molecules of vanillin (from vanilla beans) together in water using a natural enzyme in horseradish rather than relying on heavy-metal catalysts and organic solvents. Vosburg has even brought simplified versions of this divanillin synthesis into classroom demonstrations for high school and elementary school students. In other sessions, Harvey Mudd students have prepared the anticoagulant warfarin, the anesthetic lidocaine, the anti-anxiety drug moclobemide, and perfumes from rose or geranium oil using green chemistry techniques.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

By giving students choices in their experimental pathways and involving them directly in curriculum design, they become active stakeholders in sustainable development.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Liesel Hilkemeyer \u201927 says: \u201cIt has been really exciting to be part of the transition to greener labs and see the green chemistry theory we’ve learned about in the classroom actually applied, tangibly, in the lab. It is very rewarding to make our labs safer and greener.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The significance of this educational shift extends beyond the College: Vosburg is part of a growing network of like-minded educators, the Green Chemistry Teaching and Learning Community<\/a>, and a related article from the Vosburg lab\u2014with coauthors Angela Milo \u201928, Lijinghan (Alice) Chen POM \u201926 and Kyle Grice \u201905\u2014on \u201cAlternatives to Dichloromethane for Teaching Laboratories<\/a>\u201d already has over 22,000 views in just over a year. By limiting student exposure to dichloromethane and other toxic chemicals and encouraging curricular innovation, the program directly addresses global sustainability targets.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As chemical industries worldwide face increasing pressure to adopt circular, zero-waste practices, students trained under this blueprint will enter the workforce uniquely equipped to lead the transition. \u201cUltimately, our work is a reminder that building a sustainable future does not require sacrificing academic excellence; it simply requires asking how our chemistry can be greener,\u201d Vosburg says.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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