Green Discovery Chemistry Award
Award at a Glance
Purpose
To recognize outstanding efforts in discovery chemistry that demonstrate compelling environmental, safety and/or efficiency improvements through green chemistry and engineering.
Description
The ACS Green Chemistry Institute Pharmaceutical Roundtable recognizes industrial chemists who have developed more sustainable and green technologies, which either have the potential to or have already had a significant impact within the area of discovery/medicinal chemistry (specifically of biologically-active molecules).
The following five focus areas are integral to the discipline of early-stage discovery chemistry, and each provides opportunities for sustainable innovation. The nomination should state with which focus area it is most closely aligned, though submissions that highlight green chemistry/sustainability improvements in other aspects of the discovery process are also welcomed.
Improvements on sustainable protocols for final product isolation from complex reaction mixtures.
Advances on automated and parallel synthesis strategies (including miniaturization) that improve the efficiency of a given process, enable solvent selection or facilitate the generation of libraries of compounds for testing.
Forge non-conventional pathways and synthetic strategies integrating green chemistry principles. This involves overcoming experimental challenges that ensure environmental benignity and high efficacy.
Novel SAR (Structure Activity Relationship) strategies to improve the sustainability of ADME optimization campaigns including those developed through computational approaches or in vitro assays.
Innovative molecular design to expedite lead compound identification and/or consider aspects of long-term biodegradation of biologically active molecules.
The 2025 award will be presented at the Green Chemistry & Engineering Conference. The recipient, or a member of the winning team, will be invited to share their technology in an oral presentation at this event. The recipient’s transportation, lodging, and registration fees for the conference are reimbursable up to $2,500 USD (additional funds available for international travel following ACS guidelines). The recipient or winning team will also receive a plaque recognizing the achievement and certificates will be given to each team member.
Eligibility
Accomplishments relative to the design principles of green chemistry are eligible for this award. Nominations must detail the significance (i.e., in yield, waste reduction, greenness (RPG), robustness, environmental impact, reduction of toxic and/or hazardous chemicals, etc.) of the chemistry or engineering.
The Green Discovery Chemistry Award seeks to recognize a specific innovation or technology from industry within the area of discovery/medicinal chemistry which if implemented more broadly within the discovery chemistry community will have a substantial bearing on attaining future sustainability goals. Although the award is given to the individual or team that contributed to the development of the technology, it is not a career achievement award, nor is it intended to cover more than one project. Nominations may also include teams of up to ten people
Nominees do not have to be members of the American Chemical Society or the ACS GCIPR. The award is open to nominees from any country.
Deadline
December 1, 2024, at 11:59 p.m. EST (GMT-5).
How to Apply
Applicants should submit through the ACS Green Chemistry Institute application portal. To use the portal, you will need to have or create a free ACS ID.
Please be prepared to submit the following information in the portal:
- Contact information of nominator
- Contact information of nominee(s)
- Title of green chemistry technology
- Focus area selection
- Abstract (300 words) - Describe the technology, the problem it addresses and its benefits regarding the Principles of Green Chemistry highlighting the improvements over current state of the art approaches. Highlight the degree of implementation and if possible, applicability to a drug or biologically active compound discovery program. Also, benefits such as the (potential) amounts of hazardous substances eliminated, energy saved, carbon dioxide emissions eliminated, and water saved should be quantified if realistic though a qualitative analysis of the overall advantages of new technologies is also acceptable.
- Detailed description (max 3 pages) - The judges will evaluate the problem, chemistry, and realized or potential benefits.
- Problem. Describe the challenges that existed prior to your improvements.
- Scientific Development. Describe the development of your new technology emphasizing novelty, scientific merit, and application.
- Potential or realized benefits. Detail the benefits to human health and the environment by evaluating your technology using the principles of green chemistry, (such as reduced toxicity of process materials or intermediates, design for degradation, reduction or elimination of hazardous substances and process intermediates, etc.) as compared to existing benchmarked workflow or process.
- References
Judging Process
A panel of industrial pharmaceutical scientists will evaluate the applications and recommend a winner.
Notifications
Notifications will go out in early 2025.
Sponsor
ACS Green Chemistry Institute Pharmaceutical Roundtable (GCIPR)
Contact Information
Questions about the award should be directed to the ACS Green Chemistry Institute®.
- Email gcipr@acs.org (preferred)
- Telephone +1 (202) 872-6102
