Atom Economy

• When making chemicals there is often a lot of waste products, so it is helpful for companies to know how much of the reactants are going to form the useful products.
• Atom economy = Mr of desired products / Mr of all reactants x100
• Why its important to consider atom economy:

  • Raw materials are expensive, so making less products is less profitable
  • Less sustainable to use large quantities of reactants to produce tiny amounts of products
  • Waste products are expensive to dispose of
• Solutions to atom economy

  • Use a more efficient reaction
  • Find a use for the waste products
• Other factors to consider in how profitable a reaction is:

  • Percentage Yield
  • Cost of raw materials
  • Position of equilibrium
  • Rate of reaction
  • Cost of maintaining the right conditions