Chemists always want to know how efficient their reactions are, particularly if they are making compounds on an industrial scale. In other words, they are always looking for the highest possible percentage yield (Box 1) for a reaction. But yield doesn’t tell us the whole story. To design really efficient and environmentally friendly reactions and processes, chemists need to keep an eye on atom economy.
Atom economy is quite a new concept in chemistry. It was first developed by Professor Barry Trost at Stanford University in the USA. Professor Trost was awarded the Presidential Green Chemistry Challenge Award in 1998 for this important achievement.
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