Science Case

This experiment explored the concepts of recrystallization and chromatography. These concepts were interrogated through extraction and retention factor. The experiment showed that the extraction and retention factors performed supported Thin Layer Chromatography and Recrystallization.

The organic layer contained the caffeine. Anhydrous Sodium Sulfate is added to the Organic layer to have a drying effect. The drying agent is only used momentarily as it is soon filtrated out through gravity filtration. Next, the solvent, the dichloromethane, is removed from the solution by using a steam cone to evaporate the solvent. All that as left in the beaker was the caffeine.

The Acetaminophen was filtered out of the original solution, before the organic and aqueous layers were separated, using vacuum filtration. The original solution was heated in a warm water bath and then the Acetaminophen was vacuum filtrated out. The filtrate then has ethanol added to it and was placed into a boiling hot water bath. Because some of the inactive ingredients are insoluble, some of the solid powder did not dissolve. The insoluble inactive ingredients were then vacuum filtrated out of the solution. The remaining solution was then placed on a steam cone to evaporate the ethane. This resulted in crude acetaminophen in the beaker. In order to retrieve a more pure version of the acetaminophen it was warmed in the warm water bath until dissolution and then rapidly cooled in an ice bath. This allowed for the crystallization of the acetaminophen which was retrieved through vacuum filtration.

The extracted products then underwent TLC, Thin Layer Chromatography. Thin layer chromatography is a form of solid liquid adsorption chromatography. The product adsorbent is spread as a thin layer on a plate of glass. A drop of the solution to be separated is placed on one edge of the plate while in the container called a developing chamber, with enough of the eluting solvent to come to a level just below the spot. Solvent then migrates up the plate, carrying with it the components of the mixture at different rates. The rates can then be directly compared by calculating the retention factor.