Introduction Extraction involves the separation of compounds in a mixture. This separation in based on the differences in each compound’s solubility. For the purpose of this lab, the liquid-liquid extraction technique was used. This method involves using two immiscible solvents, and because of each compounds solubility in each of those solvents, the mixed compounds can separate. Generally, this process includes water as one of the immiscible solvents, but for this lab, t-butyl methyl ether was used to dissolve our mixture. Our mixture was made up of Benzoic acid, p-t-Butylphenol, and Acetanilide. The chemical structure for each compound listed previously, including the solvent, is shown below in Figure 1. By shaking the solvents together and then letting them sit, they begin to separate into two different layers, with the organic layer being the bottom layer in our experiment. To separate the two liquids, a separatory funnel can be used, as well as a Pasteur funnel. Though a general method, liquid-liquid extraction is not limited to organic compounds, and is also not the only type of extraction method. Two other methods can also be used, depending on the mixture needing to be separated: solid-liquid extraction and acid-base extraction.
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After dissolving the compound(s), filtration is needed to filter out the insoluble components, followed by evaporating the solvent used to collect the product. Commonly used for this method is the Soxhlet extractor, displayed in Figure 2 in the appendix. Also listed in the appendix, under Figure 3, is a chart showing the separation of a mixture via solid-liquid
After dissolving the compound(s), filtration is needed to filter out the insoluble components, followed by evaporating the solvent used to collect the product. Commonly used for this method is the Soxhlet extractor, displayed in Figure 2 in the appendix. Also listed in the appendix, under Figure 3, is a chart showing the separation of a mixture via solid-liquid