Some aspects of green solvents

Chemical solvents constitute around 80% of the total volume of chemicals used in many important chemical processes, especially fine chemical manufacturing. Unfortunately, these solvents are often volatile organic compounds from petroleum resource bearing several health and environmental risks. Numerous researchers take these two aspects as a reason to search for novel green solvents to replace the conventional ones. As a consequence, there are an increasing number of publications dealing with green solvents. In this review, we discuss the definition and accuracy of the term “green solvent”. We explain our urgent request for application-oriented research in this field. Finally, we point out some promising and interesting kinds of solvents, solvent systems and solubilization concepts for a successful research towards “greener solvents”.