Environment & Energy

Last edited Sat Jan 11, 2025, 07:46 PM - Edit history (1)

...scientists, often under appreciated for what they do.

There is a risk that I see with this chemistry which may not be widely appreciated, which is the potential for the formation of N-nitrosamines, which are often a risk wherever a synthetic pathway involves secondary amines on scale. These can be managed, generally, but they are powerful carcinogens; they were discovered in the drug Valsartan (which I take) as a result of an environmentally and economically wise effort to recycle dimethylformamide, which as I'm sure you know, is a widely used solvent.

I would think that one would want to know the environmental fate of these molecules, but I think the effort is worth pursuing. There are. I would think that there are a multitude of organisms that can metabolize these, but I'm in no way certain. To the extent that the amides hydrolyze, the resulting amines would tend to retain CO₂ even in a geological formation, I'd tend to believe.