A Synthesis on the Simple Extraction of Caffeine on Lipton Tea Bags

Authors: Magday, X., Manaois, K., Moldez, M., Padilla, M.

ABSTRACT

Extraction is defined as a separation method in which a solvent removes one or

more soluble components from a mixture of solids, liquids, or both. The theory of
extraction lies in the concept of immiscibility between two phases to separate a solute
from the other phase, which is to be performed by this study. Caffeine is a central
nervous system stimulant, causing increased alertness. The aim of the experiment is to
perform a simple extraction of caffeine from Lipton tea using Dichloromethane and
determine the yield and percentage recovery of the caffeine isolated from the tea bags.
During the experiment, a Lipton tea bag was heated in a boiling water for about 8
minutes. The 60 ml organic solvent, Dichloromethane was poured in a separatory
funnel that will eventually be used to extract caffeine from the aqueous extract of tea
because caffeine is more soluble in Dichloromethane. Dichloromethane is harmful if
swallowed or inhaled. This substance must be utilized in a well ventilated area and
gloves as well as masks should be worn. In case the substance is in contact with the
skin, hands are washed immediately and thoroughly. The resulting heated tea mixture
was collected, cooled, and poured together with Dichloromethane in the separatory
funnel. The separation of two layers is clearly visible. The organic layer,
Dichloromethane, was drained and placed on a clean beaker as a receiving vessel
discarding the aqueous layer. The extract was then transferred to a flask containing half
a spatula of anhydrous sodium sulfate which acts as a drying agent. Decantation was
done using the tared evaporating dish. After the evaporation, residue was then weighed
and percentage recovery of caffeine is calculated. In this experiment, caffeine was
successfully extracted from a 10 g tea bag. The percentage yield was computed by
dividing the weight of the residue in the evaporating dish by the weight of the tea bags
used. The percentage yield was 1.01%.

INTRODUCTION cardiac. Caffeine, 1,3,7 -

Tea powder is extracted from tea
leaves which contain tannins, which are
acidic in nature, a number of colored
compounds and a small amount of
unrecompensed chlorophyll and an
important and addictive stimulant called
caffeine. People all around the world
depend on caffeine. Caffeine are mostly
found in coffee or tea making them the
most popular acceptable drinks. It can
also stimulate nervous system, and can
cause relaxation of respiratory and
trimethylxanthine, belongs to a wide
class of compounds known as alkaloids.
These are plant derived compounds with
complex structure containing nitrogen,
and usually have roles in physiological
activity. The melting point of Caffeine is
238°C.
Figure 1.​ Lewis structure of caffeine

Figure 2. Stereochemical drawing
Dichloromethane
Extraction is a method used for
the separation of organic compound
from a mixture of compound. This
technique selectively dissolves one or
more compounds into an appropriate
solvent. The solution of these dissolved
compounds is referred to as the extract.
Since tea leaves have other components
such as tannins, the differential
solubility of caffeine and tannins in
dichloromethane allows separated of the
two during extraction. This experiment
aims to compare single and multiple
extractions of caffeine from dried tea
leaves and calculate the percentage
yield of caffeine for both experiment
procedures.
Methodology
In the solid-liquid extraction, 4.4
grams of anhydrous sodium carbonate
was placed in a 500 mL beaker and
added 100 mL of distilled water. The
solution was heated until the solid
dissolved. About 10 grams of tea leaves
contained in a tea bag was then added
to the mixture. The tea mixture was
boiled for 8 minutes. The teabag was
squeezed against the beaker to remove
the excess liquid and cooled to room
temperature. The group was assigned to
use the single extraction method. The
aqueous solution was extracted with 60
mL of dichloromethane in the separatory
of funnel. The separatory funnel was
gently swirled in an infinity motion after
each portion was added and let it stand
until two distinct layers were visible. The
organic layer which contained the
caffeine was drained into an Erlenmeyer
flask while the aqueous layer was
discarded. Half of a spatula containing
anhydrous sodium sulfate was added
into the Erlenmeyer flask containing the
extracted liquid. The extracted liquid
was decanted and transferred into the
tared evaporating dish. On a hot plate,
the extract was evaporated to dryness.
The evaporation of dichloromethane,
which is the solvent, left a crude version
of caffeine. The residue on the
evaporating dish was weighed and the
percentage recovery of caffeine was
calculated.
Results
Table 1.​ T
​ abulation of experimental results
Brand of tea Lipton Black Tea
Weight of tea 9.92 g
leaves used
Weight of empty 118.70 g
evaporating dish
Weight of 118.80 g
evaporating dish
and extracted
caffeine
 Weight of caffeine 0.10 g
Figure 3.​ Filtration of the boiled Lipton tea bags
Figure 4. Addition of caffeine to 60 ml of
dichloromethane in a separatory funnel
Figure 5. Tilting and mixing of the organic and
aqueous solution for the eradication of inorganic
substances present in the dichloromethane layer
Figure 6. ​Actual formation of the two layers
after putting caffeine above dichloromethane
(left) and the formation of two layers after
several times of tilting and mixing in the
separatory funnel
The various weight of the flasks
and solutions weight obtained in order
to calculate the final amount of caffeine
product in grams. The final amount of
caffeine extracted could then be used to
calculate percent error and percent
recovery.
Sample Computation
Percent Recovery= (actual/expected) x
100 %
Percent Recovery= (0.10 g/9.92 g) x
100 %
Percent Recovery= 1.01 % Laboratory Techniques: A
Small-Scale Approach By Donald
Discussion L. Pavia, Gary M. Lampman,
As expected the caffeine yielded George S. Kriz, Randall G. Engel.
from the tea bags are not 100%. The
mass of the caffeine extracted from four Trimble, J. (n.d.) ​Isolation of caffeine
lipton tea bags was only 1.01%. The from tea leaves.​ Retrieved March
data may be imprecise as single 1, 2019 from
extraction was the method used. Since
http://www.odinity.com/isolation-
the method entails slowly swirling once
in the experiment, there might have of-caffeine-tea/.
been not enough caffeine extracted
during the process. Caffeine was able to
be extracted as it is soluble in an
organic solvent such as the one used,
dichloromethane, or more commonly
called as DCM. To confirm the presence
of caffeine in the mixture, the solvent
was taken apart from the tea on top,
and later heated. DCM will boil at
approximately 39.6 degrees celsius, and
later evaporated, leaving caffeine in the
evaporating dish. Caffeine’s presence
was confirmed by the formation of its
crude version along the sides of the
evaporating dish.

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A Small Scale Approach to Organic