EXPERIMENT 2 PURIFICATION BY EXTRACTION

I. DISCUSSION
1. When is this purification technique employed?
 Distillation is used to identify and purify organic compounds. In the process of
purification, we separate a compound from another material by exploiting their boiling
points.
2. The steps involved in extraction.
3. Choice of a solvent – the useful organic extraction solvents
 Organic solvents with low polarity such as hexanes, toluene, dichloromethane and
diethyl ether are usually chosen as the organic extracting solvent.
4. The basis for the extraction procedure The Distribution Laws The Distribution Coefficient
 he distribution coefficient is the ratio of the concentration of solute in the organic phase
over the concentration of solute in the aqueous phase (the V-terms are the volume of the
phases). ... The distribution coefficient represents the equilibrium constant for this
process.
5. The use of the separatory funnel
 e a common fixture in chemistry labs. These funnels are used to separate immiscible
liquids from their solutes. The funnel is usually glass, pear-shaped, and usually includes
a stopper and a stopcock.
III.QUESTIONS
1. Define:
a. extraction
 is a very common laboratory procedure used when isolating or purifying a product • In
organic laboratory, liquid-liquid extraction is most commonly used. ... The aqueous
phase is water-based and the organic phase is an organic solvent
2. Methyl alcohol and ethyl alcohol are poor extraction solvents. Why?
 Methanol and ethanol are poor extraction solvents because they are miscible with
water and will not form a separate layer.
3. What is the major disadvantage of using ether as an extraction solvent?
 The disadvantages to using ether as a solvent are that it is highly flammable, has
potential to oxidize into an explosive, has anesthetic properties, and ether has dense
vapor that sinks to the floor to potentially react with a spark or static charge and ignite.
4. Why should the stopper always be removed from the separatory funnel whenever a liquid is
being drained through the stopcock?
 The stopper has to be removed in order to release the liquid from the funnel. If
the stopper is not removed, the vacuum that forms above the liquid will prevent the
solution from draining properly.
5. Draw a separatory funnel