Interaction of the EU Chemicals Regulation-REACH-with Occupational Safety and Health Legislation: A Report from the 5th German REACH Congress.

In April 2021, the 5th German REACH Congress took place as a hybrid event with a focus on discussing interlinkages between REACH and the occupational safety and health (OSH) legislation. More than 1000 people from Germany, the EU, and non-EU countries representing all stakeholder groups participated via livestream. Around 10% of the participants provided their opinions on various issues in an online survey. The presentations and discussions, as well as the results of the online survey, show that the stakeholders perceive a positive effect of REACH on the implementation of OSH, in particular via the information made available through the registration and communication in the supply chain, and the restrictions and authorization procedures. The integration of OSH and REACH expertise in the regulatory processes, as well as transparency and clarity about the selection of regulatory instruments to manage workplace risks, were highlighted as areas for potential improvement. Overall, it was concluded that the Chemicals Strategy for Sustainability would further improve the interplay of legislation, which would also benefit the level of safety and health at workplaces.

Thermomorphic Multiphase Systems: Switchable Solvent Mixtures for the Recovery of Homogeneous Catalysts in Batch and Flow Processes.

Over the past 20 years, thermomorphic multiphase systems (TMS) have been used as a versatile and elegant strategy for the recovery and recycling of homogeneous transition-metal catalysts, in both batch-scale experiments and continuously operated processes. TMS ensure a homogeneous reaction in a monophasic reaction mixture at reaction temperature and the recovery of the homogeneous transition-metal catalyst through liquid-liquid separation at a lower separation temperature. This is achieved by using at least two solvents, which have a highly temperature-sensitive miscibility gap. The suitability of commercially available solvents makes this approach highly interesting from an industrial point of view. For the first time, herein, all studies in the area of TMS are reviewed, with the aim of providing a concise and integral representation of this approach for homogeneous catalyst recovery. In addition to the discussion of examples from the literature, the thermodynamic fundamentals of the temperature-dependent miscibility of solvents are also presented. This review also gives key indicators to compare different TMS approaches, for instance. In this way, new solvent combinations and in-depth research, as well as improvements to existing approaches, can be addressed and promoted.