EXPERIMENT 1

ISOLATION OF CAFFEINE FROM TEA

I. OBJECTIVES To gain experience in using extraction as a method of separation. To assemble and use a simple distillation setup in the separation of volatile substances from non volatile materials. To determine the boiling point of a li!uid sample. To isolate caffeine from tea and gain experience in chemical laborator" manipulation of plant materials.

#I$%&E '( ) simple distillation setup II PROCEDURE In this experiment* caffeine is isolated from tea leaves b" preliminar" extraction +ith +ater follo+ed b" extraction into chloroform and removal of chloroform b" evaporation. ). Extraction i. Solid ,i!uid Extraction a.lace /0.0 grams of tea* '/.1 grams of sodium carbonate and some boiling chips in a /10 m, Erlenme"er flas2 or 300 m, bea2er covered +ith a +atchglass.

b- .our '41 m, of distilled +ater into the flas2. c- 5eat the mixture and boil for '0 minutes. d- 6ecant the li!uid into a /10 m, Erlenme"er flas2 e- Cool the a!ueous extract to room temperature. i. ,i!uid ,i!uid Extraction a- .our the cooled +ater extract into the separator" funnel. b- Extract the solution +ith a 70 m, portion of chloroform. Ta2e care not to sha2e the funnel too vigorousl"* but sha2e it enough to ma2e sure that caffeine is extracted into the organic solvent. c- Transfer the chloroform la"er into a '/1 m, Erlenme"er flas2. d- &epeat steps / and 7 using another 70 m, chloroform. e- Combine the t+o chloroform extracts. f- )dd a small amount of sodium sulfate to the pooled extract* and s+irl the mixture for a fe+ seconds. ). 6istillation i. #ilter the chloroform extract through a cotton plug into a /10 m, distillation flas2. ii. )ssemble a distillation setup as in #igure '. iii. 6istill the chloroform and collect about 10 m,. 8Ta2e note of the Boiling .oint &ange-. iv. Transfer the remaining solution to a pre+eighed evaporating dish. v. Evaporate the chloroform to dr"ness over a hot +ater bath. vi. Cool the evaporating dish to room temperature and +eigh. vii. Collect the greenish +hite cr"stals of caffeine and save for the next experiment. III. QUESTIONS ). 6iscuss briefl" the role of the follo+ing in the isolation of caffeine( i. sodium carbonate ii. sodium sulfate ). $ive at least three characteristics of chloroform that ma2e it a good extracting solvent for caffeine. B. 5o+ efficient is the extraction of tea leaves containing '.0 g of caffeine +ith t+o 70 m, portions of chloroform over that of a single step extraction 89 /1:C ; <.7=-> C. ?hat are emulsions> ?h" do the" form during extractions> 5o+ are the" minimi@ed> 6. ?h" is it necessar" to remove a stopper from a separator" funnel +hen li!uid is being drained from it through a stopcoc2.