DOI
https://doi.org/10.1039/C9GC01293A

Summary
Achieving a sustainable future will only be possible through the intersection of the best science and technology in combination with the societal, economic, policy, cultural, moral, and ethical ecosystem. Green chemistry and green engineering provide the scientific and technological foundation of the elements of green and sustainable chemistry while the other elements, relating to humanitarian aims, enabling system conditions, and noble goals, provide the imperative context. This alternative periodic table, strives to outline the range of aspects and tools that are available and needed to accomplish the daunting and necessary tasks of moving toward a sustainable tomorrow.

Relevance for Complex Systems Knowledge
Considering that chemistry have a fundamental role in the planet for the preservation of the global health and development the authors take into account the role of the green chemistry that can be implemented and scaled-up only if combined with all the fundamentals of green engineering and sustainability. The green chemistry has no sense without sustainability and sustainable chemistry cannot exist without green chemistry. Furthermore, it is necessary to develop new tools to predict and define the most efficient way to address sustainable products, processes, and systems. Chemistry, sustainability and development are interconnected in a unique system that need to be developed under the guidance of ethical moral and humanitarian principles. As the element of the periodic table constitutes the bricks of the molecular complexity the authors depicted a table of actions and concepts that can be variously combined to address the chemical sustainability.

Point of Strength
Paul Anastas (the corresponding author) is the father of the Green Chemistry and is probably the most authoritative scientist enabled to depict (and probably predict) the scenario in which the Green Chemistry could be implemented in a sustainable manner. They do that trough a deep analysis of several actions and factors including economical aspects, policies and regulations, metrics and tools, that needs to be considered and properly combined. Really scenographic and didactically impressive the transformation of all these concepts in a new periodic table of elements for green and sustainable chemistry.