How is Aspirin Made?
This lab is about synthesizing aspirin using a hotplate to heat the reaction. It involved vacuum filtration, recrystallization, and comparing the properties of aspirin with salicylic aspirin.
The first thing we did in this lab was make a hot-water bath by putting a beaker with water on a hot plate. After measuring out 2.1 grams of salicylic acid and 3 ml of acetic anhydride, we mixed the two together, along with 3 drops of sulfuric acid. We then put the flask containing the mixture into the hot-water bath, and heated it for 10 minutes. After removing the flask from the hot water, we added 2 mL of distilled water. The next step was to add 10 grams of crushed ice to the flask and swirl. We were to cool the flask in an ice/water bath for 5-10 minutes with occasional stirring. The next step involved using a vacuum filtration. After we used it, there were about 2 grams of product. The third step of the experiment involved purifying the aspirin by recrystallization. We saved a small amount of crude aspirin product, which was used later in this lab. The rest of it was placed into a flask along with 6 mL of ethanol. The flask was put on the hot plate so all the solid would dissolve. 10 mL of distilled water was then added to the flask and it was reheated so al the solid would again dissolve. As soon as it dissolved, we let it cool to near room temperature, and crystals formed during cooling. The flask was then put in the ice/water bath for 5 minutes. We then collected the product by suction filtration. The fourth step involved measuring the melting temperatures of salicylic acid, commercial aspirin, purified aspirin, and crude aspirin.
This lab required us to find various things. In step 1, we observed the physical characteristics of the crude aspirin and the purified aspirin. The final step required us to find the melting temperatures of salicylic acid, commercial aspirin, purified aspirin, and crude aspirin.
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