The use of designer surfactants to facilitate chemical transformations in water is a prime example for the knowledge transfer from academia to industry. Accordingly, chemistry in aqueous media aided by surfactants has emerged as a viable alternative to the use of organic solvents as part of the effort to transform chemical manufacturing into a green art. While classical metrics indicate tremendous savings on waste generation, a more exhaustive analysis including the intrinsic carbon footprint of such surfactants has never been conducted. The present work addresses this topic and outlines this analysis as part of a case study on the example of a widely known and applied working-horse of surfactant chemistry, TPGS-750-M. Meanwhile, the fate of the employed water is considered, and a holistic comparison to organic solvents is drawn. The key for a streamlined assessment is the reflected use of proper metrics, clearly pointing out a nonzero carbon footprint of such chemistries in aqueous media, though the techniques range at the greener end of the scale of reaction media.

中文翻译：

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水介质中的 API 合成：评估从学术发现到工业应用过程中的环境足迹，作为过程化学的“绿色机会”

使用设计师设计的表面活性剂促进水中的化学转化是知识从学术界转移到工业界的一个典型例子。因此，作为将化学制造转变为绿色艺术的努力的一部分，表面活性剂辅助的水性介质化学已成为使用有机溶剂的可行替代方案。虽然经典指标表明在废物产生方面有巨大的节省，但从未进行过更详尽的分析，包括此类表面活性剂的固有碳足迹。目前的工作解决了这个主题，并将该分析概述为案例研究的一部分，该案例研究是关于表面活性剂化学广为人知和应用的主力 TPGS-750-M 的示例。同时，考虑了所用水的命运，并与有机溶剂进行了整体比较。