Phosphorus is an essential raw material that needs to be recycled more effectively. There’s also a pressing need for sustainable methods for producing organic phosphorus compounds. A newly published review article explores how green chemistry could help meet these objectives in the creation and application of multifunctional phosphorus compounds known as phosphonates.
Organic phosphorus compounds are vital in various scientific disciplines, including chemistry, biology, medicine, and pharmacy. Among these compounds, phosphonates are particularly significant for their use in medications aimed at treating osteoporosis and other diseases related to calcium metabolism, as well as in preventing corrosion and scale buildup, among other applications.
The European Union has identified phosphorus as one of the critical raw materials—materials that are economically significant and vulnerable to supply interruptions due to the limited locations of their sources and the scarcity of effective, affordable alternatives.
“This raises the question of whether it makes sense to discuss green chemistry for any compounds that contain non-recycled phosphorus,” comments Staff Scientist Petri Turhanen from the School of Pharmacy at the University of Eastern Finland, one of the review’s authors.
Green chemistry is a branch of chemistry and chemical engineering dedicated to designing products and processes that reduce or completely remove the use and production of hazardous substances. Increasingly, green chemistry is expected to offer solutions to major environmental challenges worldwide.
The recent review article emphasizes environmentally friendly methods for synthesizing phosphonates and discusses their diverse applications. Additionally, it covers the degradation, recovery, and recycling processes for phosphonates.
“There are already viable green chemistry approaches for synthesizing phosphonates, but more research is needed to improve the recovery and recycling of phosphonates and phosphorus,” Turhanen concludes.
This article was an invited contribution to Green Chemistry, a leading journal in this field, and was co-authored by Turhanen, along with University Researchers Santosh Kumar Adla and Juri Timonen from the School of Pharmacy, and Professor Konstantinos D. Demadis from the University of Crete, a long-time collaborator.
