Less waste just makes more sense! Young environmental chemists examine one of the key best practices in the production of prescription drugs. Basing reactions on chirality and optimizing conditions, pharmaceutical companies can create higher yields of the desirable product while minimizing waste products. This is the second installment of a 12-part series on Green Principles.

Concepts

prescription drugs, safety, waste management

Show More Show Less

Additional Tags

science

Show More Show Less

Instructional Ideas

• Pair students to create a list of all of the prescription drug commercials they've seen on TV recently
• Discuss with learners what they think happens to waste products made during prescription drug manufacturing, then have them research the topic

Classroom Considerations

• Consider showing examples of chiral molecules to the class prior to viewing the resource

Pros

• The content exposes students to the importance of reducing waste products through better scientific methods
• Although the topic could be difficult for some pupils to understand, the material is presented in such a way that an extensive chemistry background is not necessary to comprehend the concept

Cons

• None