Unit 4: Laboratory Techniques and their

Application
Learning aim C:
Explore manufacturing techniques and testing
methods for an organic solid
Specification
Specification
What you need to be able to
demonstrate
• Aspirin is probably the most well known of the analgesic (pain
relieving) agents.

• The use of salicylic acid, from the extracts of willow bark, to

alleviate pain has been known for thousands of years.

• However, the acid is too damaging on the mouth and stomach

to be taken directly.
• In 1899, the Bayer Company in Germany patented an ester of
salicylic acid, acetylsalicylic acid, and marketed the product as
“aspirin”. Their studies showed that this ester was somewhat
less of an irritant. It is known today that acetylsalicylic acid is
hydrolyzed in the small intestine to salicyclic acid, and is then
absorbed into the bloodstream.

• Salicylic acid is the trivial name for 2-hydroxybenzoic acid, a

compound that contains both a carboxylic acid group as well as
a hydroxyl group attached to a benzene ring. Aspirin is
prepared in the laboratory by simply adding ethanoic
anhydride to salicylic acid in the presence of concentrated
phosphoric acid and leaving the mixture to react for some 15
minutes. The excess ethanoic anhydride is destroyed by the
addition of water. The aspirin can be collected by cooling in ice,
filtering and may be purified by recrystallisation.
• Aspirin is an acid. The active ingredient is acetyl
salicylic acid. Different strengths of aspirin are
based on the amount of active ingredients.

• The aspirin molecule contains two functional

groups: a carboxylic acid group and an ester. The
ester reacts instantly with aq. NaOH (acid-base),
while the carboxylic reacts more slowly (hydrolysis).
Two moles of NaOH react with each mole of
aspirin:
History of Aspirin Project
Prepare a presentation about aspirin

• The conditions that aspirin helps to relieve or cure, including

technical terms such as analgesic, antipyretic and anti-
inflammatory
• The side effects of aspirin, and the alternative treatments for
people who are affected by them;
• How aspirin came to be developed over the past 200 years,
including the achievements of those responsible for the main
developments;
• The chemistry involved in developing the medicine in a
usable form;
• The nature and importance of clinical trials.