DOES NOT react with carboxylic
acids to produce an ester
Making a solid organic product
Purification
Reduced pressure filtration
1. Connect a conical flask to a vacuum pump via the side arm
2. Dampen a piece of filter paper and
place it flat in the Buchner funnel
3. Switch the vacuum pump on and then
carefully pour in the mixture to be filtered
4. Disconnect the flask from the vacuum pump
before turning the pump off to avoid 'suck back'
Used to separate a solid
from a filtrate rapidly
Recrystalisation
Used to purify solid crude organic productss with small amounts of impurities
1. Chose the correct solvent
Desired product must be very soluble in solvent when
it is hot, but be insoluble when solvent in cold
2. Dissolve the mixture in the
minimum quantity of hot solvent
The smaller the amount of solvent used,
the better the yeild of purified product
3. Filter to remove any insoluble
impurities and retain the filtrate
It is best to preheat the filter funnel and conical
flask to prevent any solid crystallising out
4. Leave the filtrate to cool
until crystals form
5. Collect the crystals by vaccum filtration
Remove soluble impurities
6. Dry the crystals in an oven or in the
open, covered by an inverted filter funnel
Melting point determination
Used as evidence of a solid
products purity and identity
1. Seal the end of a glass melting point (capillary)
tube by heating it to melting in a bunsen flame
2. Put a small amount of the solid into the
open end of the tube, and tap the tube so that
the solid falls to the bottom of the sealed end
3. Fix the tube in the melting point apparatus and heat the
surrounding liquid gently, stirring to ensure even heating
throughout. The temperature should rise very slowly
4. Note the temperature that the solid starts and finishes
melting. The difference between the highest and lowest
temperatures recorded is known as the melting range
5. Compare experimental value to published value.
The wider the range, the more impure the substance
A pure compound should melt within
0.5ºC of its true published melting point
Thin layer chromatography
Used to separate small quantities of organic products
To check purity or to purify
To follow the progress of a
reaction over time
Requires a suitable solvent as different
organic compounds have a different
affinity with each solvent
Chromatography paper is paper chromatography
Using a silica plate is thin layer chromatography
1. Spot test mixture and reference
samples on a pencil line 1cm from
the base of the plate or paper
2. Suspend the plate in a beaker containing the solvent,
ensuring the solvent does not touch the samples. Cover
beaker with a watch glass to prevent evaporation
3. Remove plate when the solvent front is near the top.
Mark how far the solvent has reached and allow to dry
4. Locate the spots of samples using iodine, ninhydrin, or under an ultraviolet lamp
5. Match heights reached (Rf values) of sample with those of known compounds
Rf = distance travelled by spot divided
by distance moved by solvent
Making a liquid organic product
Heating under reflux
Used for volatile and
flammable liquids
1. Put reactants into a pear-shaped
flask and add anti-bumping granules
These burst the bubbles in the
boiling mixture and reduce the
chance of boiling over
2. Do not stopper the flask
This would cause the
pressure to build up and
glassware could crack
3. Atttach a condenser vertically to the flask so that water flows into the
condenser at the bottom and out the condenser at the top
This ensures the condenser is
always full of cold water
4. Heat so that the reaction mixture boils gently,
using a Bunsen flame or heating mantle. The liquid
should drip back into the reaction flask steadily
Vapours should reach no more than
half way up the condenser before
being condensed back into liquid
Purifying
When the organic produce is mixed with another immiscible
liquid, the layers can be separated using a separating funnel.
1. Allow the layers to settle, leaving the denser layer on the bottom
2. Run off and dispose of the aqueous layer
3. Run the organic layer into a clean conical flask
If acidic purities are present, add soduim hydrogen
carbonate solution and shake well to remove them.
If the crude product is alkaline and needs neutralising,
add dilute acid until the mixture is neutral
Dry the crude product by adding anhydrous
sodium sulfate and swirling the mixture
Other anhydrous salts, such as
calcium chloride, can also be used
The pure product can then
be separated by distilation
Preparing liquid product
Green chemistry
Developing chemical products and
processes that are as sustainable and
as environmentally friendly as possible
Better atom economy
More of the feedstock is
incorporated into the product and
fewer waste products are produced
Prevention of waste products
This is better than treating and disposing waste
Less hazardous chemical synthesis
Using less hazardous chemicals in the reaction
Safer chemical products
Use safer solvents
Minimise the use of organic solvents
Lower energy usage
Lower temperature and pressure processes mean it is more sustainable
Use renewable feedstocks instead of
depleting natural resources
Reduce reagents used and the number of
steps, as these can generate watse
Use catalysts and more selective catalysts
These reduce energy usage and waste products
Design chemical products for degredation
When released into the environment, they
should break down into harmless substances
instead of degrading the environment
Use real time process monitoring to
reduce waste products
Use safer chemical processes
Reduce the potential of gas release, fires, and explosions
Analytical techniques
Mass spectrometry
M+ Peak is the mass of
the heaviest element.
This is the molecular ion and helps
to determine the molecular mass
of the compound being analysed
Used to find atomic mass
and relative abundances
of isotopes in an element.
Other peaks are due to
positive ions from fragments
The fragmentation pattern
M+1 peak caused by 13C isotope
Infrared
Specific frequencies make
specific bonds in organic
molecules vibrate more
Energy of molecules is quantised - they must
take a small number of definite energy values
Determines functional groups but not the number of
them or where they are in a molecule
Exposes substances to 10[14]-10[13] Hz
frequency, which makes vibrational energy
changes occur in the molecules
Frequency and wavelength are related
Speed of light c = wavelength λ x frequency v
Speed of light is constant
frequency = 1/ λ
Wavenumber of radiation measured in cm
SImple molecules have less complex spectra
Weaker bonds require
less energy to vibrate
Below 1500 is the fingerprint region, which is not
used to determine functional groups