Experiment Four: Organic Synthesis of Aspirin Abstract The purpose of this experiment is to synthesize a common organic product called acetylsalicylic acid (aspirin), and to become familiar with the optimum conditions needed for successful yields. Aspirin is produced from an acid catalyzed reaction between salicylic acid with acetic anhydride. The crystalline aspirin is synthesized and purified by recrystallization, although there is not a hundred percent yield due to sources of error. Introduction Aspirin is a …showed first 75 words of 1440 total…

…showed last 75 words of 1440 total…producing pure aspirin. This is due most likely to the many errors, most of which are solvable, that can occur during the procedures. Reference 1Shusterman, Alan, Reed College Laboratory Reference, November 20, 2003,<http://academic.reed.edu/chemistry/alan/201_202/lab_manual/Experiment_1/report.html >. 2Shlafer, Marshal, Ototoxic Drugs, November 20, 2003, <http://www-personal.umich.edu/~mshlafer/ototox.html> 3The University of Winnipeg Department of Chemistry, Laboratory Manual of Introduction to the Chemical Properties of Matter 1111, 2003.