PREPARED BY VANITTA PRESENTING TO MS.

FINAL RANGSITANAN SORASAREE TONSIENGSOM

PROJECT

ALOE VERA
ADVANCED CHEMISTRY:
ORGANIC CHEMISTRY PROJECT
ORGANIC CHEMISTRY
ALOE VERA
Why This Plant?
Most of my best and favorite skin
cares I have been using contains an
extract from Aloe Vera, so I believe
that this herb might consist of
certain chemical compounds which
specially suit my skin. Hence, I
choose to do the research on Aloe
Vera to find out what those
chemical compounds possibly are.
Chemical Background
Aloe Vera has many benefits: First,
its ointment can accelerate the
healing process of sunburn or burn
wounds. Second, its gel can slow
aging of the skin. Third, some of its
compounds can inhibit bacterial
growth. Forth, its patch can reduce
the pain and the size of the sore.
Lastly, its latex can treat
constipation (Nejatzadeh-Barandozi,
2013; Sahu, et al., 2013).
Chemical Compounds
Some of the compounds that this
plant contains are Aloin,
Anthraquinones, Chromone, Ferulic
Acid, and Salicylic Acid. The two of
them that are going to be focused
are Chromone and Ferulic Acid
(Phytochemicals, n.d.).
Chromone
PHYSICAL PROPERTIES
It is a solid that has a melting point of
59°C (National Center for Biotechnology
Information, n.d.).
PAGE 1
CHEMICAL PROPERTIES
It has a pH of 7.4 (National Center for
Biotechnology Information, n.d.).
FUNCTIONAL GROUPS
Benzene
Very low amount of benzene can be
detected in fruits, vegetables, nuts,
eggs, dairy, and fish, so it is
possible to discover this functional
group in Aloe Vera
(ChemicalSafetyFacts.org, n.d.).
Ketone
Most foods that contain benzene
also contain ketone, so as Aloe
Vera contains benzene, it should
also contain ketone (Spritzler,
2017).
Alkene
Alkene can be found in rubber, and
since Aloe Vera produces rubber, it
should contain alkene (Garcia,
2016).
Ether
Ether can be found in essential
oils, and because Aloe Vera has its
own oil, ether should be detected
(DeRosa, 2006).
ORGANIC CHEMISTRY PAGE 2

Ferulic Acid Similarities and

Differences
PHYSICAL PROPERTIES
Both Chromone and Ferulic Acid have a
It is a solid that has a melting point
formal charge of 0 and contain alkene
of 168°C (ChemicalSafetyFacts.org,
and ether in common. However,
n.d.).
CHEMICAL PROPERTIES Chromone has a molecular weight of
146.14 g/mol with only 9 carbon atoms,
It has a pH of 3.5 while Ferulic Acid has a molecular
(ChemicalSafetyFacts.org, n.d.). weight of 194.18 g/mol with 10 carbon
FUNCTIONAL GROUPS atoms.

Alkene Differentiating the

Alkene can be found in rubber,
and since Aloe Vera produces Compounds
rubber, it should contain alkene
(Garcia, 2016). The test used to differentiate between
Ether Chromone and Ferulic Acid is solubility
Ether can be found in essential test.
oils, and because Aloe Vera has
its own oil, ether should be
detected (DeRosa, 2006).
Phenol
Again, Aloe Vera has oil, and
phenol can also be found in
essential oils (Aldred, 2009).
Carboxylic Acid
Most natural products contain
carboxylic acid, often combined
with other functional groups, so
this natural product, Aloe Vera,
should also contain carboxylic
acid (March & Brown, 2018).

For Chromone, since it contains alkene

and ketone, which can be tested through
this method, the goal is to identify
these functional groups. To start, if we
first add water to the compound, it will
not dissolve because alkene is water
ORGANIC CHEMISTRY
insoluble and ketone is large in
size. Likewise, if 5% of sodium
hydroxide is added, it will not
dissolve because strong base
ionizes acids, so non-acidic
compound will not dissolve. Again,
if we then add 5% of hydrochloric
acid, it will not dissolve because
only amine can react with this
chemical to form water-soluble
salts. However, if we add
concentrated sulfuric acid, it will
dissolve because alkene will
typically react with this chemical to
form new compounds, indicating
that the compound can contain both
alkene and ketone, which can
compose Chromone.
Now, for Ferulic Acid, since it
contains carboxylic acid and phenol,
which can be tested through this
method, the goal is to identify these
functional groups. To begin, if we
first add water to the compound, it
will not dissolve because alkene and
carboxylic acid are water insoluble
and phenol is large in size.
Nonetheless, if 5% of sodium
hydroxide is added, it will dissolve
because strong
PAGE 3
base ionizes acids, so acidic compound
will dissolve, indicating that the
compound can contain both carboxylic
acid and phenol, which can
compose ferulic acid.
Testing the Functional
Groups
The four functional groups that are
going to be tested are alkene, ether,
ketone, and carboxylic acid. Since these
four functional groups can be found in
Aloe Vera, all the test for them should
come out positive. Therefore, the
expected results of testing to be
positive are stated here.
BROMINE TEST
If alkene is presented, after adding
bromine into the sample, which initially
has clear color, a clear light yellow
layer will form at the bottom of the
sample.
ZEISEL TEST
If ether is presented, the light
yellow precipitation will form as a
result of adding hydroiodic acid
and silver nitrate into the sample
(Wang, 2010).
TOLLENS TEST
If ketone is presented, after heating the
sample mixed with Tollen reagent,
which turns to have opaque dark brown
color instead of clear, the sample will
have metallic silver color.
SODIUM HYDROGEN CARBONATE TEST
If carboxylic acid is presented, bubbles
form after adding baking soda into the
sample, which initially has clear color.
ORGANIC CHEMISTRY PAGE 4

Modifying the Compounds

For the modifications, double bonds in alkene functional group of each
compound are broken to create two new single bonds which is connected to
hydrogen atom on each of the carbon atoms, resulting addition. For Chromone,
addition of halogen, which is bromine, is taken, while addition of hydrogen
halide, hydrochloric acid, is taken in Ferulic Acid.
CHROMONE FERULIC ACID

References
Aldred, E. M. (2009). Phenols. Retrieved March 3, 2020, from ScienceDirect:
https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/pharmacology-toxicology-and-
pharmaceutical-science/phenols

ChemicalSafetyFacts.org. (n.d.). Benzene. Retrieved February 28, 2020, from

Chemical Safety Facts: https://www.chemicalsafetyfacts.org/benzene/

DeRosa, T. F. (2006). Ether Derivative. Retrieved March 1, 2020, from

ScieneDIrect: https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/pharmacology-toxicology-
and-pharmaceutical-science/ether-derivative

Garcia, N. (2016, February 4). Alkenes: Definition, Properties & Examples.

Retrieved March 1, 2020, from Study.com:
https://study.com/academy/lesson/alkenes-definition-properties-examples.html

March, J., & Brown, W. H. (2018, August 21). Carboxylic acid. Retrieved March 1,
2020, from Encyclopædia Britannica:
https://www.britannica.com/science/carboxylic-acid
ORGANIC CHEMISTRY PAGE 5

National Center for Biotechnology Information. (n.d.). Retrieved February 25,

2020, from PubChem Database:
https://pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/compound/Ferulic-acidNational Center for
Biotechnology Information. (n.d.). Chromone. Retrieved February 25, 2020, from
PubChem Database: https://pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/compound/chromone

Nejatzadeh-Barandozi, F. (2013, July 19). Antibacterial activities and antioxidant

capacity of Aloe vera . Retrieved February 25, 2020, from US National Library of
Medicine National Institutes of Health:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3729540/

Phytochemicals. (n.d.). Aloe Vera. Retrieved February 25, 2020, from

Phytochemicals: https://www.phytochemicals.info/plants/aloe-vera.php

Sahu, P. K., Giri, D. D., Singh, R., Pandey, P., Gupta, S., Shrivastava, A. K., . . .
Pandey, K. D. (2013, October 17). Therapeutic and Medicinal Uses of Aloe vera: A
Review. Retrieved February 25, 2020, from Scientific Research Open Access:
https://www.scirp.org/html/39281.html

Spritzler, F. (2017, January 23). 16 Foods to Eat on a Ketogenic Diet. Retrieved

February 28, 2020, from Healthline:
https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/ketogenic-diet-foods

Wang, Z. (2010, September 15). Zeisel Determination. Retrieved March 5, 2020,

from Wiley Online Library:
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/9780470638859.conrr689