Analgesic drugs contain an active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) that provides it with the pharmacological properties. Active pharmaceutical ingredients consist of acetylsalicylic acid, acetaminophen, ibuprofen, or naproxen. These ingredients are also Nonsteroidal Anti-inflammatory Drugs (NSAIDs) that are non-narcotic relievers of mild to moderate pain (Medicinenet). The purpose of this experiment was to separate an active pharmaceutical ingredient from an analgesic drug using extraction with methanol. The mobile phase, methanol, dissolves the pure form of the drug which contains polar functional groups. Whereas, alumina, the stationary phase, is a polar adsorbent better known as aluminum oxide that separates the compound by filtering the inactive ingredients. The melting point of the extracted active ingredient was determined and percent recovery of the active ingredient was calculated as follows:
A …show more content…
Table 2 illustrates that only 21mg was recovered, which resulted in a percent recovery of 8.3%. Due to this problem, there was not enough crystals to pack into a capillary tube. Unknown D was accepted from another group to continue the experiment. As seen in Table 1, the melting point of the unknown was 130.4C. It is fairly similar to indicate that the active ingredient was potentially acetylsalicylic acid with a melting point of 136-140C (ChemSpider). The wide melting point range specifies the substance is impure. After evaporation, the concentration of impurities increased in the mother liquor. The end product may have had materials from the unknown that were unreacted resulting in the impurities (NCBI). An acetylsalicylic acid drug, recognized as a NSAID, reduces inflammation and pain by interfering with synthesis of prostaglandins (Medical Terminology). Aspirin and Empirin are brand names for the acetylsalicylic acid
A …show more content…
Table 2 illustrates that only 21mg was recovered, which resulted in a percent recovery of 8.3%. Due to this problem, there was not enough crystals to pack into a capillary tube. Unknown D was accepted from another group to continue the experiment. As seen in Table 1, the melting point of the unknown was 130.4C. It is fairly similar to indicate that the active ingredient was potentially acetylsalicylic acid with a melting point of 136-140C (ChemSpider). The wide melting point range specifies the substance is impure. After evaporation, the concentration of impurities increased in the mother liquor. The end product may have had materials from the unknown that were unreacted resulting in the impurities (NCBI). An acetylsalicylic acid drug, recognized as a NSAID, reduces inflammation and pain by interfering with synthesis of prostaglandins (Medical Terminology). Aspirin and Empirin are brand names for the acetylsalicylic acid