This report discusses an experiment to study the synthesis of a drug from organic material. The experiment deals with the …show more content…
When the salicylic acid was weighed in the beginning, weighing paper was supposed to be used to weigh the salicylic acid on balance, but instead a lab paper was used instead. This could have given an inaccurate mass reading due to the movement of bent layer of papers on the scale, causing the mass fluctuate. This could have led to imperfections in the purity of our aspirin, because of incorrect amounts of salicylic acid measured. Also, 40 ml of water was added to decompose the acetic anhydride right after the salicylic acid completely dissolved. Doing this before adding an initial 4 ml of water could have impact the decomposition process. As a result, the acetic anhydride could have tainted and added impurities to the final product of aspirin.
The expected outcome was achieved. 3.68 g of aspirin was produced as a result of the reaction. Also the test to trace salicylic acid showed there was much less salicylic acid in the aspirin because the color was more faint when compared with the dark purple of the pure salicylic acid test tube. Therefore, the expected outcome of the reaction was