Task: Research and write a report on green chemistry, including its applicability to atom economy, E-factor, and examples.

Green chemistry is a branch of science that focuses on the synthesis of chemical products and processes that aim to reduce or eliminate the use and generation of hazardous substances. This field has emerged out of the concern for environmental and human health, and strives to use renewable resources as alternative starting materials and create products that do not pollute or require hazardous production processes.

Atom economy is a concept within green chemistry that focuses on the efficiency of a chemical synthesis, and is calculated by dividing the mass of the desired product of a reaction by the mass of all reagents used. The atom economy is important for reducing waste, as a reaction with a low atom economy produces more unwanted byproducts than a reaction with a high atom economy.

The E-factor, or the environmental performance index, looks at the environmental impact of a chemical reaction by comparing the mass of the waste product to the mass of the desired product. This indicator reflects the toxicity of the waste produced in a reaction, rather than its sheer quantity, and is useful for assessing the environmental impact of any proposed reaction.

Examples of green chemistry applications in the industry include the use of esterification and hydrolysis as clean and efficient routes for the introduction and removal of functional groups from molecules, and more efficient routes for coupling reactions that use less toxic and expensive reagents, such as transition metal catalysts. Green chemistry can also include the use of catalytic hydrogenation to reduce the amount of energy and solvent required and the use of enzymes as the catalysts for chemical reactions.

Overall, green chemistry is a rapidly expanding field of research that looks at how to reduce the environmental and human health risks caused by chemical synthesis and waste production. Its key concepts, such as atom economy and E-factor, are important metrics for assessing the efficiency and environmental impact of any proposed synthesis, and it finds use in various processes in the industry and research fields.