Recrystallization Experiment

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The goal of the experiment “Extraction and Recrystallization” was to separate the unknown acid, base, and neutral compounds into individual components and to identify them by their melting point. Once the extraction takes place, the compounds are purified by recrystallization, which allows one to identify them by using their melting point. The extraction takes place using a separatory funnel and the original, organic solvent ethyl acetate. In the separatory funnel HCl was used to obtain the acidic extract and NaOH was used to get the basic extract. Throughout the extractions, the separatory funnel is inverted and shaken under the fume hood for 10 minutes to maximize the surface area contact. Since ethyl acetate has a high vapor pressure, the separatory funnel is also vented so that the vapor pressure does not build up.
Before beginning extraction, there are four main rules that should be considered while attempting to pick a solvent. Rule number one is that the extraction solvent and original solvent must be immiscible (do not mix) and form two individual layers. Water is denser so its bottom layer. The second rule is that the extraction solvent cannot irreversibly react with the compound you are trying to extract. Technically every reaction is reversible but the reaction here is easily reversed. If you can easily go backwards then the reaction is not a problem. But if it is a difficult reaction to go backwards, then you do not want that reaction to take place. The third rule is that the extraction solvent should be as specific to your compound as possible. One should yield every time you do an extraction since you lose and you want to limit the total number of separations you have to do to maximize your overall yield. The las...

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... 45.5%, and a melting point of 92-98oC. The purified amount of acid was 0.124g,a percent recovery of 37.6%, and a melting point of 154-165oC. The purified amount of base was 0.206g,a percent recovery of 62.4%, and a melting point of 130-141oC. The purified amount of neutral was 0.023g,a percent recovery of 6.97%, and a melting point of 94-99oC. Percent recovery is based on fact that we have a 1:1:1 ratio. The percent recovery was established by dividing the purified or crude amount by the initial amount times 100. Since the percent recovery was high before recrystallization and low after recrystallization, some product must had been lost during recrystallization. After comparing the melting points of the acid, base, and neutral compounds I think that the acid was Salicylic acid, the base was 2-methyl-4-nitroanaline and the neutral was 9-fluorene.

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