Isolation of eugenol from cloves

Introduction:
Essential oils are components of various compounds and are associated with scents and
medicinal purposes. Essential oils can be found in cloves, between 14% and 20% by weight and
its primary essential oil being eugenol, C10H1202. Eugenol, molecular formula shown in figure
1, has been known to serve as a food flavoring additive and a dental anesthetic. Most oils are
found to have long hydrocarbons. Essential oils, however, are complex mixtures of fluids with a
low viscosity that also contains a variety of molecular species and functional chemistry groups.
Cloves are the flower buds from a tropical tree that grows in the Spice Islands of Indonesia and
the islands of the Indian Ocean. In this experiment, Steam distillation is used to extract
essential oils, eugenol, from crushed cloves. Steam distillation is utilized because of the oils
high boiling points, which makes it difficult to extract completely. When using steam
distillation. The spice or herb is suspended in water, and as the water is boiled and vaporizes, it
extracts the essential oils and carries them over into the graduated cylinder. The boiling point
of eugenol is 225°C but it is insoluble in water so it will steam distill at a temperature slightly
lower than the boiling point of the water.

Figure 1: Eugenol Chemical Structure

Materials:
1. 2 Grams of cloves
2. 50 mL round bottom flask
3. 3 boiling chips
4. Heating mantel
5. Simple Distillation Apparatus
6. 25 ml graduated cylinder

7. 5 ml of Dichloromethane (CH2Cl2)
 8. Anhydrous Magnesium sulfate (MgSO4)
9. Separating funnel
10. 2 Watch glass
11. 3 clips

Procedure:

The experimenters obtained 2 grams of cloves, that were pre-grinded, and added them into a

50-mL round bottom flask and added three boiling chips along with 25-mL of water. The

solution was then swirled the flask, which aided in wetting the cloves, and then left the flask to

sit for about 10 minutes before beginning the distillation. While waiting for the ten minutes,

the experimenters set up the simple distillation apparatus and greased all the parts that were

attached to ensure that it was sealed. They then used the heating mantel to heat the flask to a

boil and the vapor will start to distill over the collection vessel. The distillation was continued

for about 45 minutes or until 12-15 mL of the condensation in the graduated cylinder was

collected.

Simple distillation
After the distillation was completed, the experimenters allowed it to cool to room temperature.

Once it was cooled, the experimenters extracted the eugenol from water using dichloromethane

in a separating funnel. This was done by adding 5mL of the dichloromethane, shaking the funnel

to mix the layers and then it was separated by opening the cockstop to remove the lower layer,

which is the CH2Cl2. The experimenters then repeated this separation process again and then

dried the CH2Cl2with about one gram of anhydrous Magnesium Sulfate. After it was transferred,

the dried dichloromethane solution onto two tared watch glasses, then rinsed it a little with

CH2Cl2 and then allowed it to evaporate in the fume hood to isolate the eugenol oil. Once the

oil was obtained, it was weighed .