Green phosphonate chemistry – Does it exist?

Phosphorus is a critical raw material that should be recycled more efficiently. There is also a need for more environmentally friendly production methods for organic phosphorus compounds. A recently published review article examines the potential of green chemistry to contribute to these goals in the production and use of multifunctional phosphorus compounds, phosphonates.

Organic phosphorus compounds play a crucial role in several scientific fields, such as chemistry, biology, medicine and pharmacy. These compounds include phosphonates, which have particularly important applications as drugs for the treatment of osteoporosis and other calcium metabolism related diseases, and as corrosion and scale inhibitors, among other things. 

The EU has listed phosphorus as one of the critical raw materials, i.e., raw materials of great economic importance and with a high risk of supply disruption due to the concentration of their sources and the lack of good, affordable substitutes.

“Therefore, one can ask whether it is even relevant to talk about green chemistry for any compound containing non-recycled phosphorus,” notes one of the authors of the review, Staff Scientist Petri Turhanen from the School of Pharmacy at the University of Eastern Finland.

Green chemistry is an area of chemistry and chemical engineering focusing on the design of products and processes that minimise or eliminate the use and generation of hazardous substances. Green chemistry methods are increasingly expected to provide solutions to the world's major environmental problems.

The recently published review article focuses on green methods in the synthesis of phosphonates, as well as the wide range of their applications. In addition, the review discusses the degradation, recovery and recycling of phosphonates.

“Feasible green chemistry methods have already been developed for the synthesis of phosphonates; however, the efficient recovery and recycling of phosphonates or phosphorus still requires a great deal of research,” Turhanen sums up.

The article was an invited paper for Green Chemistry, which is the flagship journal in the field, and it was co-authored with Turhanen by University Researchers Santosh Kumar Adla and Juri Timonen from the School of Pharmacy as well as by a long-term collaborator, Professor Konstantinos D. Demadis from the University of Crete.