Survey of Solvent Usage in Papers Published in Organic Process Research & Development 1997-2012

A survey of solvent usage for papers published in Organic Process Research & Development has been carried out for the years 1997-2012. Three solvent categories were studied: (i) solvents of concern, (ii) dipolar aprotic solvents, and (id) neoteric solvents. In the analysis of dipolar aprotic solvent use it was found that nearly 50% of DMF/DMAc/NMP/DMSO usage is attributed to nucleophilic substitution reactions (mostly SNAr and S(N)2 reactions). Ideas on how to minimise the use of these four solvents in nucleophilic substitution reactions are presented, and it is hoped that these ideas will be adopted by chemists looking at S-N type reactions at all stages of development. The only neoteric solvent showing any significant use is 2-methyltetrahydrofuran; usage of this solvent grew rapidly during the survey period.