Table 1.

Definitions of concepts involved in green metrics.

Concept	Abbreviation	Definition
Atom Economy	AE	The amount of raw material used as a substrate that becomes a useful product with the minimum waste production
Environmental Quotient	EQ	The relation between the mass of waste generated during a process and the environmental impact that the waste causes
Reaction Mass Efficiency	RME	This concept takes into consideration not only the atom economy but also the yield and stoichiometry of a chemical reaction
Mass Intensity	MI	The total mass of material, such as reactants, solvents, and reagents, used to produce a specific mass of product
The Life-Cycle Assessment	LCA	A technique to evaluate the environmental impact of the entire life of a product, this included all the steps from the extraction of raw material, manufacturing, storing, distribution, use, disposal and recycling