Fine Chemistry for a Sustainable Future

Dear Colleagues,

Fine chemicals are complex, single, pure chemical substances, produced in limited quantities in multipurpose plants via multistep batch chemical or biotechnological processes. Since their inception in the late 1970s, fine chemicals have become a key part of the chemical industry, reaching a global production value of about USD 85 billion and being mainly used as starting materials for specialty chemicals. We may speak of fine chemistry when the overall reaction has a significant added value, and thus, economic and environmental factors must be considered determining the ways labs and plants must be operated to improve the sustainable development of the fine chemistry processes, favoring economic growth, environmental protection, and optimization of the resources used. To achieve these goals, an interdisciplinary approach is required to cover all the competencies required, taking also into account a possible scale-up of the new technologies. This effort is also evidenced by the participating journals and keywords, and this Topic welcomes papers with the widest approaches and competencies.

Prof. Dr. Angelo Vaccari
Dr. Nicola Schiaroli
Dr. Carlo Lucarelli
Topic Editors