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Green chemistry can advance both the health of the environment and the primary objectives of the chemical enterprise: to understand the behavior of chemical substances and to use that knowledge to make useful substances. We expect chemical research and manufacturing to be done in a manner that preserves the health and safety of workers; green chemistry extends that expectation to encompass the health and safety of the planet. While green chemistry may currently be treated as an independent branch of research, it should, like safety, eventually become integral to all chemistry activities. While enormous progress has been made in shifting from “brown” to green chemistry, much more effort is needed to effect a sustainable economy. Implementation of new, greener paradigms in chemistry is slow because of lack of knowledge, ends-justify-the-means thinking, systems inertia, and lack of financial or policy incentives.

The main aim of this chapter exactly characterizes the contribution. The analytical chemistry of the rare earth elements (REEs) very often is highly complicated and the determination of a specific element is impossible without a sample pre-concentration. Sample preparation can be carried out either by separation of the REEs from the matrix or by concentrating the REEs. The separation of REEs from each other is mainly made by chromatography. At the beginning of REE analysis, the method of precipitation/coprecipitation was applied for the treatment of REE mixtures. The method is not applicable for the separation of trace amounts of REEs. The majority of the methods used are based on the distribution of REEs in a two-phase system, a liquid–liquid or a liquid–solid system. Various techniques have been developed for the liquid–liquid extraction (LLE), in particular the liquid phase micro-extraction. The extraction is always combined with a pre-concentration of the REEs in a single drop of extractant or in a hollow fiber filled with the extractant. Further modified techniques for special applications and for difficult REE separation have been developed. Compared to the LLE, the solid phase micro-extraction is preferred. The method is robust and easy to handle, in which the solid phase loaded with the REEs can be used directly for subsequent determination methods. At present, very new solid materials, like nanotubes, are developed and tested for solid phase extraction.

This chapter describes the efforts of the faculty at Worcester State University (WSU) to infuse green chemistry into the undergraduate chemistry curriculum. It specifically focuses on the structure of two stand-alone classes. One is aimed at a chemistry audience and is an upper-level elective for the major. The other is an online course aimed at a nonscience audience. Both are three-credit lecture-only classes.