Acetylsalicylic Acid
Acetylsalicylic acid is the chemical name for asprin. The usual concentration is 325mg of acetylsalicylic acid (which we will refer to as ASA from this point on) per tablet of asprin. It is usually a white crystaline compound but can sometimes be yellow. This page is dedicated to the extraction of ASA from asprin tablets.
Materials |
Equipment |
| Bottle of Asprin, 100 tablets | Beaker or flask, 500mls |
| Organic solvent* | filtering equipment |
*For the organic solvent you can either use acetone, methylethyl ketone or even isopropyl alcohol
Extraction:
In a mortar and pestle, crush up your 100 tablets of asprin, keep the bottle. Into a 500ml flask (or beaker), pour 250mls of your organic solvent (this ammount is not tested on isopropyl). Heat the organic solvent up to 5C below its boiling point and add the crushed asprin. Stir well until you only have a small ammount of sediment left. If it is not all dissolving (give it time) add more solvent in 50ml portions while stirring until it does all dissolve. Remember, there will still be a small ammount of white sediment left so don't waste the solvent if you think its just the other crap in the asprin. Once it is all dissolved, filter it through two coffee filters at the same time (or just regular filter paper). Now, you have a choice to either boil the solvent down to 100mls and then let it evaporate or just let it evaporate to dryness slowly. I usually just let mine evaporate slowly as organic solvents are poisonous when inhaled. The crystals left over are ASA.