Sachs, Hannah2025-06-032025-06-032025-05-19https://repository.tcu.edu/handle/116099117/67130Chemicals compounds that are either in high demand and/or have many valuable applications could be considered high-value chemicals. Arguably, the profitable benefits of highvalue molecules run the risk of outweighing both cost and environmental concerns that result from their synthesis, isolation, and purification. As these products have ever-increasing scopes of prized applications that could further inspire high probabilities of mass production, the necessity of defining increasingly sustainable and environmentally benign yet still facile and financially efficient syntheses become exponentially important. Squaraine dyes are versatile, fluorescent, organic small molecules with spectral profile in the infrared region, a key characteristic that contributes to their identification as broadly and diversely applicable molecules in biological and energy-based processes. Such applications place them in the category of high-value chemicals. Their synthesis as outlined in literature, however, often relies on the use of toxic and volatile organic solvents. This research outlines our group's efforts to develop quantitative, easy to use metrics for assessing synthetic routes to squaraine dyes, driven by defining greener routes. Our sustainability analysis, as driven by a focus on waste production and cost-effectiveness, will furthermore outline the importance of thorough and detailed reporting of synthetic procedures, which is a universally applicable concept for estimating and understanding the impact of high value chemical's syntheses.sustainabilitygreen chemistry