Green Chemistry in Higher Education: State of the Art, Challenges, and Future Trends

Nowadays, there is increasing interest in global sustainability, and thus, university students would like to know how human actions affect the health status of our planet. This is mainly due to their basic knowledge of problems such as global warming and greenhouse gases. Students would like to gain knowledge on how to safeguard the earth for future generations. This must involve changes in education programs at interested institutions and universities. To ensure that future generations of chemists are equipped with proper knowledge, significant efforts are needed. Thus, this article aims to present the history of green chemistry, its milestones, and ideas on how to teach this subject. A discussion of awareness in the field of green chemistry and of existing teaching materials is presented. In addition, green chemistry metrics, which should be known and used by professors and students, are described. Teaching methods for green chemistry are also given, with special attention paid to organic and analytical chemistry education.