What is atom economy?

Atom economy is a measure of the percentage of reactant atoms that end up in the final desired product, rather than in by-products.

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What is the formula for % atom economy?

% atom economy = ΣMr ​of all reactantsMr ​of desired product​×100

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Is it better to have a high or low atom economy?

A high atom economy is better, as it means a greater proportion of reactants become useful products.

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What are the problems associated with a reaction that has a low atom economy? 

  1. It is less sustainable because it uses more raw materials.
  2. It produces more waste which has to be disposed of, which could be expensive and/or harm the environment.
  3. It is more expensive to operate because it requires a larger quantity of reactants and incurs higher costs associated with separating the desired products from the increased amount of waste generated.

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Without doing any calculation, what is the atom economy of the following reaction?

CaO + CO2  ➔ CaCO3

100%, as there is only a single product.


All reactions with a single product will have an atom economy of 100%.

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