Result:

The aim of the experiment was to extract caffeine from vivarin tablets using separatory
funnel. The tablets were weighed to approximately 0.900g and crushed into powder. The
powder was added to 60mL of water and sodium carbonate; the purpose of sodium
carbonate was to ensure caffeine remained in its free base form and prevent it from
reacting with any acids. The solution is added to a separatory funnel and allowed to cool
to room temperature. Dichloromethane is added into the separatory funnel to extract the
aqueous and organic solution. Caffeine moves out of the solution and into
dichloromethane that is dried using sodium sulfate and decanted into a separate beaker.
The crude product left is recrystallized using acetone and petroleum ether as the
appropriate solvent. The crystals are placed in ice-bath for few minutes to allow
precipitation to occur. The crystals are left for week to dry and then re-weighed. The mass
of the crystals collected is 0.208g. The percent isolation obtained from the experiment is
23.1% using the formula:
collected mass 0.208 g
isolation=
=
=23.1
initial mass
0.900 g
The possible sources of error during the experiment could be due to:
Mainly loss of crystal during transfer during the decantation process and when
being transferred into the weighing boat for drying.
The tablets were not completely crushed into powder so not all of the caffeine is
extracted.
Possible contamination in the glassware apparatus.
The crystals were not fully recrystallized but were instead forced to precipitate.
Conclusion:
The aim of the experiment was met by extracting caffeine from the vivarin tablets using
the separatory funnel method. The caffeine was extracted using dichloromethane as the
organic solvent and the crystals were obtained using acetone and petroleum ether as the
appropriate solvents. The percent isolation of the caffeine obtained experimentally was
23.1%. The main source of error could be due loss of product during the transfer process
and not allowing the crystals to recrystallize but rather forcing the precipitation process.
To avoid error for future experiments, the experiment could be repeated twice in order to
obtain a higher yield of caffeine extracted.