Extraction and Isolation of Caffeine from Tea Bags 1. a. Is methylene chloride more or less dense than water?

Methylene chloride is denser than water b. What evidence do you have to support your answer? When the tea mixture (containing water and tea powder) was added in the separatory funnel, it formed 2 immiscible layer where methylene chloride was at the bottom. 2. Was your melting point the same as the reported melting point? Yes, it was as reported. 3. Why was sodium hydroxide added to the tea solution? The sodium hydroxide acts as a base. When the leaves boil, the tannins dissolve in the water as well as the caffeine. If a base was not use, the tannins will also be extracted into the solvent used in the subsequent extraction. The base converts the tannins into their sodium salts - being ionic these salts are not soluble in solvents so it remains in the aqueous layer during extraction. This allows purer caffeine to be extracted. 4. Explain why the caffeine that you obtained in this experiment may not have been white in color. White color caffeine is the purest form. In this experiment they might be some contamination from exterior sources rendering it a different color. Also, the tea might be mixed with some preservatives, colorings and flavorings causing discoloration. 5. List some substances that contain caffeine other than coffee. - Soft/carbonated drinks - Chocolate - Alcoholic beverages

Extraction and Isolation of Piperine from Black Pepper 1. Two other major alkaloid components of pepper are piperidine and piperettine. Explain how using 1H NMR one could distinguish between isolated piperine versus piperidine and piperettine.

2. Explain the trituration process and why all of the CH2Cl2 solvent must be removed to yield piperine crystals.