Synthesis Of Aspirin

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Emilio Arias Synthesis and Characterization of Aspirin Introduction: Aspirin has become the most widely used drug in the world due to its many uses. In the body, aspirin relieves pain, inflammation, reduces fever, and thinning of the blood by inhibiting the formation of molecules called prostagladins. The purpose of this lab is to synthesize aspirin, to see how efficient and pure the synthesis is. Aspirin will be synthesized during the first part of the experiment. Three tests will then be performed to examine the identity and purity of the synthesized aspirin. The first test will detect the presence of leftover salicylic acid in the synthesized aspirin. The second test uses melting point to evaluate the purity of the aspirin product. A compound that contains impurities will tend to melt over a range of temperatures and at temperatures lower than the fixed mp for the pure compound. The third test will utilize thin layer chromatography to evaluate the purity of the aspirin as well as testing for the presence of leftover salicylic acid or other by products of the reactions. Experimental: Week 1: For the synthesis of the aspirin, 250 mL of water was boiled. 1.5 g. of salicylic acid were poured on a test tube. Then, 3.5 mL of acetic anhydride and four drops of 85% phosphoric acid were added. A cotton ball was placed to prevent vapor escape. The tube was placed on the boiling water for seven minutes. During this time, the ice bath was prepared. The tube was placed on the ice bath. Then, it was removed and one drop of room temperature water was added. The tube was swirled. The process was repeated until no boiling occurred. 24 mL of room temperature water were added and the mixture was stirred. Once the crystals began to form, the tube was placed in a beaker filled with ice water. The contents were stirred until the temperature fell to 5°C. Suction

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