You are on page 1of 1

Question & Answers:

1. Discuss briefly the role of the following in the isolation of caffeine:


I.

Adding HCl turns the caffeine into a hydrochloride salt, which greatly increases its solubility in
water. The proton from the HCl attaches to one of the nitrogens on the caffeine, giving it a
positive charge, and the negatively charged chloride sticks to it.

II.

Sodium carbonate also a base, and it is added in the first extraction to make sure that the
caffeine remains in the free base form (that is, to prevent it from reacting with any acids that
may be present).
If you do not use a base the tannins will also be extracted into the solvent (i.e. methylene
chloride) used in the subsequent extraction. The base converts the tannins into their sodium
salts - being ionic these salts are not soluble in solvents like methylene chloride so remain in
the aqueous layer during extraction. This allows purer caffeine to be extracted.

III.

The purpose of the anhydrous sodium sulfate serves as a drying agent that will remove any
water that may be present before starting to evaporate the solvent off.
The
Na2SO4
removes
water
from
the
organic
extract.
If you do not remove the water that is dissolved in the solvent it will end up in the extract
which will give a higher value for the grease content than the true value.

2. Chloroform was chosen as the solvent because Caffeine is very soluble in this substance. Thus,
when the separatory funnel is used, the Caffeine in the tea dissolves into the Chloroform and the
rest of the tea can be discarded. This is done three times so that the amount of Caffeine left in the
discarded tea is minimized. This is followed by two washings with Sodium Hydroxide and one
with water. It is believed that the Sodium Hydroxide weakens the attraction Chloroform has on
Caffeine, allowing the Caffeine to be isolated more easily later on. Chloroform is a good extracting
solvent fro the isolation of caffeine because caffeine dissolves in it, it is immiscible with water and
it has lower boiling point that caffeine.
3. F
4. Emulsion is a mixture of two immiscible liquids. One liquid (the dispersed phase) is dispersed in
the other (continuous phase). When tannins are converted to their salts, they become an ionic
surfactant. These causes the materials that dont dissolve in water to form an emulsion with
water. This emulsion can be minimized reducing the energy input through slow and careful
shaking and swirling of the separatory funnel.
5. It is necessary to remove the stopper from a separatory funnel in order for the liquid to continually
flow out. Removing the stopper would release the pressure so the liquid will flow continuously.
When stopper is not removed, the liquid will not drain out no matter how you manipulate the
stopcock.

You might also like