How do you synthesize aspirin?

To prepare aspirin, salicylic acid is reacted with an excess of acetic anhydride. A small amount of a strong acid is used as a catalyst which speeds up the reaction. In this experiment, phosphoric acid will be used as the catalyst. The excess acetic acid will be quenched with the addition of water.

What is the main component to synthesis aspirin?

salicylic acid
Aspirin is prepared by chemical synthesis from salicylic acid, through acetylation with acetic anhydride. The molecular weight of aspirin is 180.16g/mol.

What is the limiting reagent in aspirin synthesis?

salicyclic acid
The acetic acid which is water soluble, can be separated from the aspirin by filtration. The salicyclic acid will be the limiting reagent.

What is the purpose of synthesis of aspirin?

The purpose of this lab was to synthesize Aspirin and measure the synthesized Aspirin’s purity. By calculating the theoretical yield based on the original amount of Salicylic acid, one could determine the actual yield percentage of the reaction.

What type of reaction is synthesis of aspirin?

The synthesis of aspirin is known in organic chemistry as an esterification reaction. This is a substitution reaction in which an alcohol (the –OH group in salicylic acid) reacts with acetic anhydride to form an ester, aspirin.

What type of reaction is the synthesis of aspirin?

esterification reaction
The synthesis of aspirin is known in organic chemistry as an esterification reaction. This is a substitution reaction in which an alcohol (the –OH group in salicylic acid) reacts with acetic anhydride to form an ester, aspirin.

What factors affect purity of aspirin?

Weighing, mixing, heating, cooling, filtration, washing and drying are processes that can affect the yield and the purity of aspirin. In the chemical reaction, most of the time the aspirin produced might be impure. Therefore, aspirin must go through another process known as recrystallization.

What is the purpose of synthesis of Aspirin?

What was the yield of synthesis of aspirin?

After the limiting reactant was determined, the theoretical yield of aspirin was calculated at approximately 1.97g. The actual yield was only around 0.67g, producing a percent yield of 34.3%. These results show that the methods used were only partially successful at achieving the goal of the experiment (synthesising aspirin).

How can aspirin be made from acetic acid?

Aspirin can be made by reacting salicylic acid with acetic acid in the presence of an acid catalyst. The phenol group on the salicylic acid forms an ester with the carboxyl group on the acetic acid. However, this reaction is slow and has a relatively low yield.

How did Hippocrates invent the drug aspirin?

Acetylsalicylic acid is an acetic acid ester derivative of salicylic acid. The earliest known uses of the drug can be traced back to the Greek physician Hippocrates in the fifth century B.C. He used powder extracted from the bark of willows to treat pain and reduce fever.

Which is the limiting reactant of aspirin equation?

The limiting reactant of the equation was salicylic acid. After the limiting reactant was determined, the theoretical yield of aspirin was calculated at approximately 1.97g. The actual yield was only around 0.67g, producing a percent yield of 34.3%.