Atom Economy Calculator

Calculate atom economy for chemical reactions to measure efficiency and environmental impact.

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Enter reaction data to calculate atom economy

Atom Economy Concept

Formula

Atom Economy = (MW of Desired Product / Σ(MW of All Reactants)) × 100%

  • • Measures efficiency of atom utilization
  • • Higher values = more efficient reactions
  • • Maximum = 100% (all atoms in product)
  • • Important for green chemistry

Green Chemistry Principles

  • • Minimize waste generation
  • • Maximize atom efficiency
  • • Reduce environmental impact
  • • Improve sustainability
  • • Lower production costs

Typical Atom Economy Values

Excellent (90-100%)

  • • Addition reactions
  • • Rearrangements
  • • Diels-Alder reactions
  • • Cycloadditions

Good (70-89%)

  • • Substitution reactions
  • • Many organic syntheses
  • • Catalytic reactions
  • • Some eliminations

Poor (<70%)

  • • Elimination reactions
  • • Multi-step syntheses
  • • Reactions with byproducts
  • • Traditional methods