Commercial Asa Synthesis Lab Report

Purpose:
The main goal of this lab experiment is to synthesize acetylsalicylic acid through using different processes such as crystallization and filtration. Additionally, determining the purity of the synthesize product alongside with a commercial ASA provided in the lab, through using one of the melting point apparatus or conducting a USP test are also the objectives of this experiment.

Results

Discussion:
As discussed in the lab manual, there are certain instructions which apply to proper measurement to provide accurate values throughout the experiments. For example, the transferring of 10 ml of ASA solution to a vial tube by volumetric pipette was necessary to acquire consistent results for our salicylic acid content. It is because the volumetric pipette shows a better accuracy than using a beaker and transferring it to graduated cylinder just to have 10 ml of your solution. In comparison to that, 5.0 ml of acetic anhydride was measured through the use of an accurate pump and not by a different apparatus. In short, through the use of specific apparatuses, which provides an accurate measurement, correlates to my quantitative values which are concise.
The purity of the ASA solution that we produced was determined by

As stated earlier, our experimental ASA had a concentration of 2.00%. And once mix with 1.00 ml of 0.0020 M of iron (III) chloride solution the color change from a clear solution to a dark purple color. The concentration and the color of our ASA product show high contamination of salicylic acid, which eventually decreased its normal melting point range considering it to be impure. However, our commercial ASA had a concentration of 1.00% and showed a light purple color which suggests its contamination with salicylic acid but not to the same degree of contamination as seen in our ASA