Phenacetin Synthesis

Phenacetin (C10H13NO2) can be synthesized from various organic compounds. The two primary compounds used for synthesis in this lab were Acetaminophen (C8H9NO2) and p-Phenetidine (C8H11NO). Both of these compounds have similar organic structures, however, Acetaminophen resulted in a more pure form of Phenacetin. Additionally, both of these compounds had to undergo specific chemical reactions, in order to form the same molecular structure as Phenacetin. Finally, these compounds had to be recrystallized in order to produce the most pure form of Phenacetin. During the synthesis of Phenacetin from Acetaminophen, several chemical compounds had to be added to Acetaminophen. The first chemical compound that was added to Acetaminophen was Sodium Hydroxide. Since Sodium Hydroxide contains the strong nucleophile OH-, that …show more content…
The first compound that was added to p-Phenacetin was Hydrochloric Acid, which completely dissociates in water due to it being a strong acid. During this reaction the Hydrochloric Acid proton pronated itself to the amino group in p-Phenetidine, thus giving the amino group a positive charge. Next, a small amount of decolorizing carbon was added to the solution and filtered. The decolorizing carbon caused the solution to turn a dark brown color. The decolorizing carbon absorbed the nonpolar molecules in the solution, that is, the p-Phenetidine compounds in which the amino groups did not gain an additional proton from the previous reaction. Next, the solution was filtered in a Hirsh funnel. Then, acetic anhydride was added to the filtered solution, causing the solution to turn a light orange-pink color. Finally, Sodium Acetate was added to the solution causing the solution to turn a white cloudy color. The final result of this reaction was crude Phenacetin from