Ammonium Tartrate Lab Report

Ammonium tartrate salt remains in the aqueous layer during the extraction. Ammonium tartrate dissolves easily in high pH solutions because ammonium tartrate is basic and thus dissolves better in basic (high pH) solutions rather than in acidic (low pH) solutions. Ammonium tartrate is also a negatively charged ion and therefore it will be difficult to deprotonate it in a highly acidic solution. In a basic solution, however, it would be easier for the negatively charged ion to accept positively charged hydrogen ions. To isolate (+)-α-phenylethylamine, one could boil the mixture at a temperature less than 180°C, since 180°C is the boiling point of (+)-α-phenylethylamine. By doing this, one can ensure that the (+)-α-phenylethylamine will not evaporate when the solution is boiled.
Instead, the experimental procedure can be modified to use a strong acid to crystallize the (+)-α-phenylethylamine. If (-)-tartaric acid was used as a resolving agent instead of (+)-tartaric acid, the optical rotation obtained would be different. Since (-)-tartaric acid and (+)-tartaric acid are enantiomers, they have similar physical and chemical properties. Therefore, if (-)-tartaric acid is used instead of (+)-tartaric acid, the entire experimental process will occur in the same manner but the only difference will be in the optical rotation. In this experiment, the optical rotation was obtained to be -35.01°. However, if (-)-tartaric acid is used, the optical rotation value will be +35.01°. If meso-tartaric acid was used as a resolving agent instead of (+)-tartaric acid, the optical rotation obtained would be different. Tartaric acid is meso and the molecule is achiral and optically inactive, which means that the optical rotation is