Flow Chart

Equipments
- Hot plate
- Beaker
-
Preparation of a concentrated tea solution

1) Add 4 unopened tea bags into a beaker

2) Prepare and add 120 mL of a 0.40 M solution of aqueous Na2CO3
3) Set hot plate temp to 250
4) Once the tea begins to boil, reduce temp to 200 (gently boil for 15 mins stirring
occasionally)
5) Remove beaker from hot plate and cool to around 50
6) Remove tea bags (Gently squeeze the bags to recover more solution)
7) Carefully pour the solution into a separatory funnel

Liquid liquid extraction

1) Choose appropriate organic solvent (dichloromethane)

2) Add 20 mL of the chosen solvent to the 250 mL separatory funnel (with tea mixture)
3) Stopper the funnel and gently mix the two phases (inverting a few times)
4) Release pressure using stopcock each time you invert the funnel
5) Bubble in organic layer is normal (biphasic system)
6) Use glass rod to gently encourage the layers to separate into distinct layers
7) Collect organic layer

Drying solutions with sodium sulfate

1) Add sodium sulfate (small quantities) to the organic layer

2) Do not add sodium sulfate once free flowing particles are observed (swirl flask)
3) Allow sodium sulfate to react with water ( 1 or 2 mins)
4) Decant the dried organic layer in a clean dry and tared beaker (clear color)

Recrystallization

1) Record mass of crude caffeine

2) Heat 10 mL of ethanol to Bp (hot plate at 150) in a 50mL erlenmeyer flask
3) Add approx 2 mL of ethanol per 50 mg of crude caffeine to round bottom flask
4) Transfer to 50 mL beaker and place beaker on the hot plate to heat up
5) Rinse with hot ethanol (approx 1 mL) if remains of caffeine (white solid)
6) Dissolve the caffeine then remove from heat (cool 5 mins)
7) Cool in ice water bath (5 mins)
8) Scratch bottom of beaker to induce recrystallization
9) Isolate the purified caffeine by suction filtration
10) Take melting points of both a crude caffeine sample and a recrystallized caffeine
sample.
11)Record data