Critical Evaluation of Published Algorithms for Determining Material Efficiency Green Metrics of Chemical Reactions and Synthesis Plans

In
this paper, we evaluate seven published algorithms on determining
material efficiency green metrics for individual chemical reactions
and synthesis plans with respect to their implementation by professional
chemists and chemical engineers. Specifically, we compare and contrast
calculation outputs, visual displays, and ease of use. For a direct
head-to-head comparison of algorithm performances, thereby establishing
consistency, all methods are tested on the same set of chemical examples
taken from Organic Syntheses and journal articles
that first introduced the algorithms in the literature. Misconceptions and misinterpretations
of applying materials metrics analysis when making claims of greenness
for reactions and synthesis plans are also discussed.