UCSB chemistry professor Bruce Lipshutz received one of five Presidential Green Chemistry Challenge Awards handed out this week in Washington, D.C. Given to people and organizations who research and develop green chemical technologies, the award recognized Lipshutz’s recent creation of a nanoparticle—a “benign by design” mixing compound—to replace the environmentally harmful, petroleum-based organic solvents that are widely used in making everything from perfume to paint to pharmaceutical drugs. The compound—made from vitamin E—also uses room-temperature water as a reaction medium, therefore reducing byproduct pollution and eliminating the need for heating.
