Paracetamol Lab Report

Paracetamol is one of the world’s most beneficial and resourceful analgesic and is widely used in present day. An analgesic, can be defined, as a chemical compound that relieves pain, reduces fever and inflammation. It works by hindering the enzyme cyclooxygenase which acts a catalyst to convert fatty acids to prostaglandins. Prostaglandins cause pain and inflammation to peripheral and central points in the nervous system2. Paracetamol, or Acetaminophen is created by the synthesis and preparation of an amide. It is made when the amine group of 4-aminophenol is acetylated by acetic anhydride to produce paracetamol and the by-product of the reaction, acetic acid. Paracetamol is contains three functional groups; A hydroxyl group (OH), an amide group (HN-CO-R) and an aromatic group (benzene ring). …show more content…
These two steps were already carried out and 4 amino-phenol was the amine used in the first part of this experiment. 4 amino phenol and acetic anhydride undergo a nucleophilic addition-elimination reaction. A reaction mechanism is a step-by-step process when reactant molecules change in their geometry in order to produce new products. This occurs due to omission or addition of reagents, where bonds are broken down to form new ones4. 4 amino-phenol contains two functional groups, an OH and a NH2 group attached to a benzene ring while acetic anhydride is a derivative of a carboxylic acid group. It is formed by the removal of water from two ethanoic acid molecules. Because acetic anhydride is the second most reactive carboxylic acid derivative, they can be readily converted into other less reactive carboxylic acid