Atom economy

• Atom economy

  Measure of the proportion of starting materials that end up as useful products
• Formula for atom economy

  Atom economy = (Mr of desired products/Mr of all reactants) x 100
• Is it better to have a high atom economy or low atom economy

  High atom economy as it means a greater proportion of reactant become useful products
• What’s wrong with low atom economy

  It will require more reactant which is more expensive

  Less sustainable since it uses more reactants

  There will be more waste products which will have to disposed of
• Other factors that should be considered when choosing between two different methods of producing a useful product

  Percentage yield

  Cost

  Position of equilibrium

  Rate of reaction