Introduction:

To isolate caffeine from a 100ml sample of tea, the sample was extracted three
times with dichloromethane, twice with 6 molar sodium hydroxide, and once with
distilled water. The resulting solution was then treated with anhydrous magnesium
sulphate to remove water, after which the drying agent was filtered out, and the mixture
was removed of dichloromethane by heating. Finally, caffeine was isolated through
recrystallization using hot acetone and petroleum ether.
Experimental Procedure:
An initial 100ml sample of tea was poured into a separatory funnel. In a
extraction procedure, 20ml of dichloromethane was added to the funnel and the resulting
mixture swirled in the flask for 5 minutes. The separatory flask was then allowed to sit
upright for 5 minutes to allow the mixture to settle into the component layers. After the 5
minutes, the clear layer in the separatory flask was drained into an Erlenmeyer flask.
This extraction procedure was repeated twice more with dichloromethane, twice with
sodium hydroxide,(20ml samples at 6 moles per liter) and finally, once with distilled
water(20ml). After these extractions, the final filtrate was treated with roughly one
teaspoon of anhydrous magnesium sulphate, swirled, and allowed to sit for 5 minutes.
The magnesium sulphate was then removed through gravity filtration and the resulting
solution placed on a steam bath until it was boiled dry. The dry product was then
dissolved in a small amount of hot acetone(~5ml), and combined with ~25ml of
petroleum ether. This mixture was then allowed to sit in a ice water bath for 5 minutes
until crystallization was complete. Upon that point the crystals were filtered out by
vacuum filtration using a Hirsch funnel, washed with petroleum ether and, once dry,
weighed and transferred to a zip-lock bag.
Results:
Observations: All of the extraction products were clear, slightly yellow solutions
which lightened very slighted with each extraction. Before dissolving in hot acetone, the
product was a yellowish white powder, and upon final recrystallization and filtration, the
dry caffeine was a fine white powder with a slight tendency to clump.
Numerical Data: Preweighed 250 ml Erlenmeyer flask:98.26 g
Erlenmeyer flask with raw product(before
recrystalliztion):109.2g Therefore raw product: 10.94g
Weight of dry filter paper: 0.5g
Weight of dry filter paper with final product:1.19g
Therefore weight of final product: 0.69g
Assuming original tea was2.20g/100ml, since100ml was used,
2.20g of caffeine was the maximum possible yield. Therefore:
(0.69g/2.20g)*100%= 39.36% Yield