Laboratory Synthesis of Aspirin

With some important techniques under our belts, let's try our first organic synthesis! The target will be aspirin, which was first synthesized in 1899. It's just one step, and it's as easy as synthesis gets, so it shouldn't be too hard. And we get to put our newfound skills with filtration and recrystallization to the test!
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Пікірлер: 91

  • @badbotbit6828
    @badbotbit6828 Жыл бұрын

    I made Asprin in my Organic Chemistry Class in Uni. I snorted the "white powder" as a joke I was then told to leave the lab by the lab tech/TA. A week later I was removed from the class and I had to take it the next semester.

  • @waelfadlallah8939

    @waelfadlallah8939

    Жыл бұрын

    Bunch of losers! Nevermind of them

  • @camlecamel

    @camlecamel

    Жыл бұрын

    LMAO MY DUDE IM DYING OF LAUGHTERS

  • @thomasneal9291

    @thomasneal9291

    Жыл бұрын

    *sad trombone plays*

  • @azizbekdev578

    @azizbekdev578

    Жыл бұрын

    @@camlecamel 🤣

  • @hx5525

    @hx5525

    Жыл бұрын

    Kinda deserved it tbh

  • @BenjaminSteber
    @BenjaminSteber Жыл бұрын

    I can still remember a reaction I performed in organic chemistry that kept me up into the late hours of the night. I had done the reaction perfectly and all my numbers and reactions appeared to be perfect. The damn thing would not come out of solution. So I’m looking at a pure clear liquid that was holding within, my product. Tired and impatient I dumped the ethanol fluid into a test tube and stuck it into the freezer. Nothing. I then remembered how super concentrated fluids need a seed to begin crystallization and the same is even true of snowflakes. With a spoon I made tiny scratches on the bottom of the tube. Not only did my product come out of solution, it came out as perfect little rectangular prism crystals, no more than five. I could only use a melt test, but it came out at a very pure temp with well over a 95 percent yield by weight. Everyone else had only managed to produce a powder with much lower purity and yield, I never spent longer on an organic chemistry reaction than that experiment and I never got better results. I was Jessie Pinkman years before breaking bad.

  • @zekiz774

    @zekiz774

    Жыл бұрын

    But Jesse Pinkman was bad at chemistry at the begin of the series

  • @grimcity
    @grimcity Жыл бұрын

    Neo (waking up from a training program): "Whoa, I can synthesize Aspirin!" Morpheus: "Show me. I've been a tad headachy today."

  • @waelfadlallah8939

    @waelfadlallah8939

    Жыл бұрын

    He would better be trained for cocaine since it's more effective for headache !

  • @NobodyI991
    @NobodyI991 Жыл бұрын

    I'm on Aspirin for my heart. This is fascinating too me, thanks Dave!

  • @thomasneal9291
    @thomasneal9291 Жыл бұрын

    one of the first lab experiments I recall doing when I took ochem as an undergrad. And pretty much the only one I recall going smoothly :P

  • @user-vj4vx2pf9b
    @user-vj4vx2pf9b Жыл бұрын

    I remember this from a 1st year organic chemistry practical 25 years ago..... But it was really fun.

  • @sonumsahadeo6955
    @sonumsahadeo6955 Жыл бұрын

    I did this last year. Extremely helpful video

  • @ricardoserra6392
    @ricardoserra6392 Жыл бұрын

    Excellent video, it really teaches lab techniques. Most chemistry videos are just for entertainment. Well done!

  • @Dinnye01
    @Dinnye01 Жыл бұрын

    After watching Nigel's series about this, it's nice to see how it goes.

  • @Falcolique
    @Falcolique Жыл бұрын

    Yo we cookin?

  • @JoeFromDetroit
    @JoeFromDetroit Жыл бұрын

    Very interesting, now I am going to look up and see if I can find how aspirin on an industrial scale.

  • @apescape3223
    @apescape3223 Жыл бұрын

    we legit have to do this next monday in preparation for this semester's ochem lab lmao this is so surreal

  • @user-xv7nb1dv8v
    @user-xv7nb1dv8v Жыл бұрын

    Why Ethyl Acetate is mentioned as a reagent in your video, but doesn't seem to be used in the actual procedure?

  • @Bibliophil33
    @Bibliophil3311 ай бұрын

    How do you get the salicylic acid in powder form? It found in nature via certain plants and barks but how would you extract it or create it out of nothing??

  • @ReynoldsGarrett
    @ReynoldsGarrett Жыл бұрын

    Classic experiment! 🤟🏻

  • @Froggsroxx
    @Froggsroxx Жыл бұрын

    Looks like he's really an.. *aspirin*g researcher

  • @OkayUser

    @OkayUser

    Жыл бұрын

    End it

  • @OkayUser

    @OkayUser

    Жыл бұрын

    Your life

  • @OkayUser

    @OkayUser

    Жыл бұрын

    Now.

  • @uncleanunicorn4571

    @uncleanunicorn4571

    Жыл бұрын

    lol

  • @Froggsroxx

    @Froggsroxx

    Жыл бұрын

    @@OkayUser if it gave you head pain take some aspirin ;)

  • @simonberger539
    @simonberger539 Жыл бұрын

    Danke!

  • @ssamerica3062
    @ssamerica3062 Жыл бұрын

    Hey Professor Dave, Rusty cage made a video recently, crafting a...relatively eccentric lemonade stand, and he started talking about the fluride in the water in the middle of it. The thing is I know that some of what he said you addressed but he also mentioned other things like PFA's which I know contain fluorine and are also detected in rain water (idk about taps though). There seemed to be a bit of a conflation there but me not being a chemist I wanted to know if you had a take on it.

  • @FyterianTV
    @FyterianTV5 ай бұрын

    if there are impurities are the *re*-crystalisation, what would it most likely be?

  • @IsimelTokiong-ms4dj
    @IsimelTokiong-ms4dj11 ай бұрын

    why do we rinse with ethanol? Why not just distilled water?

  • @miaestrada9515
    @miaestrada9515 Жыл бұрын

    the thermo sponsorship yes!!!!!

  • @JohnDlugosz
    @JohnDlugosz Жыл бұрын

    The lab video reminds me of another question I've never had answered yet: Sometimes, graduated cylinders come with a plastic hexagon that fits around it and is free to slide up and down. What is that for?

  • @galileog8945

    @galileog8945

    Жыл бұрын

    It is a bumper guard. If the cylinder tips over, the plastic ring may save it from breaking.

  • @illuminocalypse5210
    @illuminocalypse5210 Жыл бұрын

    I have a question - I notice on the salicylic acid molecule there are 2 OH groups - what prevents the acetic anhydride from acetylating the non-phenol OH group on the upper part of the molecule? I dunno if maybe this is a dumb question I should be able to figure out, but if anyone could enlighten me, I'd greatly appreciate it! Thanks!

  • @ProfessorDaveExplains

    @ProfessorDaveExplains

    Жыл бұрын

    Not as nucleophilic because the lone pairs are tied up in resonance with the carbonyl.

  • @00dfm00
    @00dfm00 Жыл бұрын

    Unfortunately, I think a video on how to synthesize mifepristone is in order.

  • @jesterbob828
    @jesterbob828 Жыл бұрын

    Professor Dave has really been hitting the tanning bed.

  • @josicat4789
    @josicat4789 Жыл бұрын

    Thank you!

  • @midwestchem368
    @midwestchem368 Жыл бұрын

    Dave I love your videos. I have a question though. I like using old acetic anhydride to make nice smelling things In order to dispose of it. I recently made some more benzyl acetate from benzyl alcohol and acetic anhydride and added h2so4. I started heating per usual and after about 20 minutes the color changed which made me think tar was produced and to some extent it was. I ended up with a big glob of some kind of polymer looking stuff. It was extremely difficult to remove and ended up using high heat to melt it slightly and pour it out. I was able to clean the stuck tar off the glass with piranha solution. Anyways my question is what might the polymer looking stuff be? Also I performed the gabriel synthesis which I found through you and my product will be donated to another channel for use in synthesis. You cover alot of very cool reactions which absolutely fascinate me so keep doing what you do Dave!

  • @failuregaming6611

    @failuregaming6611

    Жыл бұрын

    The real question will you get the same tar if you use a new bottle of benzyl alcohol and acetic anhydride, both of your reactants can decompose.

  • @midwestchem368

    @midwestchem368

    Жыл бұрын

    @@failuregaming6611 At that point the benzyl alcohol was brand new. The acetic anhydride was a year and a half old but it should only break down to acetic acid which works to make benzyl acetate as well by Fischer esterification. The last was 98% h2so4 and was only about 1 month old. I have a feeling I added too much h2so4. Which caused tar to form or maybe polymerized the benzyl alcohol in some sort of way.

  • @ProfessorDaveExplains

    @ProfessorDaveExplains

    Жыл бұрын

    @@midwestchem368 This polymerization reaction was discovered by Cannizzaro in 1845. What happens with benzyl alcohol and a number of acids is that you form a benzyl cation, which undergoes Friedel-Crafts alkylation on another molecule of substrate. This can continue till you get a long polymer, probably a mix of para and ortho- substituted benzene rings. To acylate benzyl alcohol it is best not to use acidic conditions. Hope that helps!

  • @midwestchem368

    @midwestchem368

    Жыл бұрын

    @@ProfessorDaveExplains Thank you! That explained it perfectly and will help for my next time I'm working on an esterification.

  • @user-xi1mz7jb9n
    @user-xi1mz7jb9n8 ай бұрын

    Q/ 1g of Aspirin is soluble In 300 ml of water 3 mg/mL (20 °c) Why?

  • @tomdickson3225
    @tomdickson3225 Жыл бұрын

    Sick! I got to synthesise aspirin for a final project, unfortunately it was only about 70% accurate or something

  • @bekeneel

    @bekeneel

    11 ай бұрын

    it's called the purity, lol.

  • @tomdickson3225

    @tomdickson3225

    11 ай бұрын

    @@bekeneel yeah true, it still makes sense tho because if I was 100% accurate the product would be 100% pure

  • @magoolew5131
    @magoolew5131 Жыл бұрын

    Where can a person obtain chemicals to refine gold? I used to be able to buy them from a lab, but they went out of business.

  • @bekeneel

    @bekeneel

    11 ай бұрын

    refine gold?

  • @magoolew5131

    @magoolew5131

    11 ай бұрын

    @@bekeneel Yes, you can take various types of gold, mix them together and with certain types of chemicals, precipitate the dissolved gold out of solution into a brownish looking dust, then you can melt the dust with some Borax and pour ingots of basically pure gold.

  • @ItsDaNewGuy
    @ItsDaNewGuy Жыл бұрын

    Yo, when's the merch drop? I wanna flex a Professor Dave T-shirt

  • @simonberger539
    @simonberger539 Жыл бұрын

    hey hey . love all your content pls never stop ♥

  • @-JA-
    @-JA- Жыл бұрын

    👏👍

  • @nirmalmishra6404
    @nirmalmishra6404 Жыл бұрын

    David, please make a video on Biomolecules

  • @brittanyjacobson5199

    @brittanyjacobson5199

    Жыл бұрын

    Take a look at his biochemistry playlist, very likely you will find what you need.

  • @berite100
    @berite100 Жыл бұрын

    ptsd from biochem labs

  • @keegan6388
    @keegan6388 Жыл бұрын

    thanks im gonna overthrow big pharma with this

  • @aminatrabujeva525
    @aminatrabujeva5259 ай бұрын

    une masterclass

  • @arturobrito2795
    @arturobrito2795 Жыл бұрын

    Remember that it is not good idea to use the product of the experiment

  • @thomasneal9291

    @thomasneal9291

    Жыл бұрын

    I dunno... depends on the solvents you use really. I used both the aspirin and the caffeine I produced in Ochem lab. they aren't THAT hard to clean.

  • @waelfadlallah8939
    @waelfadlallah8939 Жыл бұрын

    Second

  • @PotatoChips-jy9pk
    @PotatoChips-jy9pk Жыл бұрын

    Synthesize the blue stuff next ;-)

  • @bekeneel

    @bekeneel

    11 ай бұрын

    But this already explains how you can make heroin :) if you have acetic anhydride tho, I didn't know sulfuric acid was added as catalyst, but I suppose it can make a stronger end product.

  • @PotatoChips-jy9pk

    @PotatoChips-jy9pk

    11 ай бұрын

    @@bekeneel I'm on drugs right now

  • @phobos1963
    @phobos1963 Жыл бұрын

    Please be precise, what's "concentrated H2SO4" ? This does not mean anything for reproducability in a lab. It's like saying "concentrated HNO3", what are you talking about ? The regular 68% lab HNO3 ? Or maybe WFNA ? Or perhaps RFNA ? Chemistry is all about precision, theory and experiments, if the theory isn't precise, let alone the experiment.

  • @imikla
    @imikla5 ай бұрын

    First, make salicylic acid, acetic anhydride, and sulfuric acid. Then watch this video.

  • @BaronVonQuiply
    @BaronVonQuiply Жыл бұрын

    So easy you can do it on the edge of a field in a war-torn country as bombs fall around you. Yeah, I'm alluding to that reaction.

  • @nusratnusu3170
    @nusratnusu317011 ай бұрын

    োো

  • @badbotbit6828
    @badbotbit6828 Жыл бұрын

    FIrst

  • @TT-yz7pz
    @TT-yz7pz Жыл бұрын

    that's cool and all but Aspirin should be avoided in this day and age, with so many better options available.

  • @WhiteHazee

    @WhiteHazee

    Жыл бұрын

    He is still a very useful NSAID and safe enough for OTC sales. Edit: and as show cheap and easy to make.

  • @shadowmax889

    @shadowmax889

    Жыл бұрын

    Actually, it will never go away. It is too good of a drug, even with all the side effects. Specially when used as an antiagregant

  • @bobbyc2768
    @bobbyc2768 Жыл бұрын

    I would love to try this synthesis but the site I usually buy chemicals from will not sell acetic anhydride to an individual...I did some google searches to find out why companies are so sketched out about selling it, and it's because it's used to synthesize heroin from morphine...I hate stuff like that, I think when people want to learn and practice chemistry at home that's a great thing and by restricting that because a chemical can be misused kills good old fashioned learning and innovation. Like seriously, you'd have to have morphine in the first place to do that, so if someone can get morphine i'm sure they can find whatever chemicals they need if their intention is to turn it into heroin. I seriously doubt many people inside the USA are turning morphine into heroin, and those that are probably have no trouble getting their acetic anhydride - in fact, clandestine drug labs tend to import banned chemicals from other countries like Mexico and China, and these days most of them have abandoned heroin in favor of fentanyl because it's cheaper to make, does not require growing poppies then extracting morphine, therefore it does not depend on growing something all season to have one yearly harvest and can be done any time of the year, and to supply a given number of people and make a given amount of money the product will take up far less space, and the profits are far higher with the lowered overhead. So because of some remote possibility of it being misused, they make it nearly impossible for individuals to buy it. I haven't gone to every different chemical supplier I could find, but the two most common ones I've bought things from before have big disclaimers on their acetic anhydride page saying they will only ship it to companies and it will be deleted from orders by individuals, and basically telling you to not even attempt buying it. I'm willing to bet 99.999% of the people who would order it inside the USA just want to practice basic chemistry and would never make heroin, and even if they would, they probably have no access to morphine to do so. If someone was dead set on it and grew their own poppies, your average person could maybe grow enough poppies every year to make a couple grams of the final product at most, and it would likely be far more time consuming and costly than simply going out and buying it somewhere. All these restrictions on people who want to practice chemistry, yet drugs are for sale all over in this country, so really all this does is inhibit people from doing chemistry on their own. We should be encouraging people experimenting, learning, and trying new things on their own - great things come from experimentation.

  • @katarinakalasova494
    @katarinakalasova494 Жыл бұрын

    Second

  • @waelfadlallah8939

    @waelfadlallah8939

    Жыл бұрын

    I am second!

  • @waelfadlallah8939

    @waelfadlallah8939

    Жыл бұрын

    Are you by any chance related to Katerina Hartlova? She's a magnificent actress 👏