Introduction

A number of commercially available products are organic in nature. Most of them can be
obtained from natural products and others may be synthesized in the laboratory. Two of the
household products that we are most familiar with is aspirin and oil of wintergreen. They are
both derivatives of carboxylic acids and they can be easily synthesized in the laboratory. Aspirin,
also known as acetylsalicyclic acid is a salicylate drug often used as an analgesic to relieve
minor aches or pain, an anti-inflammatory and anti-pyretic drug. It can be prepared by from the
reaction of salicyclic acid with acetic anhydride in the presence of phosphoric acid.
On the other hand, oil of wintergreen or also known as methylsalicylate is an organic
ester naturally produced by many species of plants, particularly wintergreen. It is the active
ingredient found in sports cream and pain relief rubs. It can be produced from salicyclic acid
which undergoes the process of esterification in which salicyclic acid is allowed to react with
methanol in the presence of an acid to produce methylsalicylate.
In this experiment, you are to prepare aspirin and oil of wintergreen from salicyclic acid.
The purity of the aspirin produced will be verified using Ferric chloride. The OH group directly
attached to the benzene ring forms a complex with Fe+3 to form a colored solution.
Methylsalicylate on the other hand, will be characterized based on the odor produced.

References:
Methylsalicylate. Retrieved 11 March 2015 from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Methyl_salicylate
Synthesis of Aspirin and Oil of Wintergreen. Retrieved 11 March 2015
http://www.scribd.com/doc/94115626/Synthesis-of-Aspirin-and-Oil-of-Wintergreen#scribd

from:

Aspirin. Retrieved 11 March 2015 from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aspirin

Synthesis of Aspirin and Oil of Wintergreen. Retrieved 11 March 2015 from Legaspi,
G.A, Sta. Ana, S.T, 2010, Essentials of Organic Chemistry Laboratory