Green Chemistry and Its Impact on the Transition towards Sustainable Chemistry: A Systematic Review

Abstract

This study presents a systematic review that addresses the didactics of Green Chemistry in the field of chemistry education, and its main goal is to explore the implications of education in Green Chemistry in response to growing environmental concerns. To carry this out, three databases were reviewed—Dialnet, Web of Science, and Scopus—using the PRISMA method and inclusion and exclusion criteria were established. Articles from journals from the last 6 years, in English or Spanish, that addressed the didactics of Green Chemistry at any educational level, and that offered free access to the whole text, were included; studies that did not specifically focus on the didactics of Green Chemistry or that addressed topics not pertinent to the goals of this review, as well as textbooks, laboratory guides, and other educational resources, were left out. The Boolean operators “AND” and “OR” were used with respective keywords, in both English and Spanish, in the different databases to see with which combinations the greatest number of studies fitting the proposed goals were obtained. Finally, 13 of the 695 articles initially selected were included and analyzed (Dialnet: 146; Web of Science: 330; Scopus: 219). The results show how Green Chemistry can play a fundamental role as a learning strategy to promote sustainable development and contribute to the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals established in the 2030 Agenda.