Certificate
This is to certify that Arnav Jain of class has successfully
completed this chemistry project on the topic “To study the
characterization and purification of organic substances” prescribed by
Mrs. Maneesha Mehta during the academic session as
per the guidelines of the Central board of secondary education.
Mrs Maneesha Mehta
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
I would like to express my special thanks of gratitude to my chemistry
teacher Mrs. Maneesha Mehta ma’am as well as our principal Ms.
Kamini Bhasin ma’am gave me the golden opportunity to do this
wonderful project on the topic “to study the characterization and
purification of organic substances” which also helped me in doing a lot
of research, helping me gain a lot of knowledge.
I am really thankful to them.
secondly, I would also like to thank my parents and friends who helped
me alot in completing this project in the time limit
TO STUDY THE CHARACTERIZATION AND PURIFICATION OF ORGANIC
SUBSTANCES
INTRODUCTION
The characterization and purification of organic substances are
fundamental processes in organic chemistry, essential for obtaining
pure compounds and identifying their chemical properties. Purification
techniques aim to separate the desired compound from impurities,
ensuring high purity, which is critical for accurate analysis and further
experimentation. Common methods of purification include
recrystallization, distillation, and chromatography.
Characterization, on the other hand, involves the use of various
analytical techniques to determine the structure, composition, and purity
of the compound. Techniques such as infrared (IR) spectroscopy,
nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy, mass spectrometry
(MS), and melting point/boiling point determination provide detailed
information about the functional groups, molecular structure, and
molecular weight of the substance.
Together, purification and characterization allow chemists to isolate and
confirm the identity of organic compounds, which is crucial in fields
ranging from pharmaceuticals and materials science to environmental
chemistry and forensic analysis. This project focuses on the practical
application of these techniques to purify and characterize an organic
substance, providing valuable insight into the chemical and physical
properties of the compound.
1. Objective:
● To isolate a pure organic substance from a mixture.
● To characterize the purified organic substance using various analytical techniques.
2. Materials:
● Organic compound mixture (could be impure)
● Solvents (e.g., ethanol, water, hexane, ethyl acetate, acetone)
● Reagents for chemical tests (e.g., bromine water, sodium hydroxide, hydrochloric
acid)
● Chromatography materials (e.g., silica gel, TLC plates, mobile phase)
● Melting/boiling point apparatus
● IR spectrometer, NMR spectrometer, UV-vis spectrophotometer, or mass
spectrometer
● Laboratory glassware (e.g., beakers, flasks, pipettes, separating funnel, rotary
evaporator, etc.)
3. Methods:
A. Purification:
1. Recrystallization:
○ Purpose: To purify solid organic compounds.
○ Procedure:
■ Dissolve the impure compound in a hot solvent (chosen based on the
solubility of the compound).
■ Slowly cool the solution to allow the pure compound to crystallize.
■ Filter the crystals under vacuum and dry them.
○ Criteria for solvent selection:
■ The compound should be soluble in the solvent at high temperatures
but insoluble at low temperatures.
■ The impurity should either remain dissolved at low temperature or be
removed by filtration.
2. Distillation:
○ Purpose: To purify liquids based on differences in boiling points.
○ Procedure:
■ Set up a distillation apparatus.
■ Heat the mixture and collect the distilled vapors.
■ If the boiling points of the substances are significantly different,
fractional distillation can be used to separate them.
○ Types:
■ Simple distillation: For mixtures with large differences in boiling points.
■ Fractional distillation: For mixtures with similar boiling points.
3. Chromatography:
○ Purpose: To separate components in a mixture based on their differential
adsorption to a stationary phase.
○ Types:
■ Thin Layer Chromatography (TLC): A quick method for checking the
purity of a compound and its progress during purification.
■ Column chromatography: Suitable for purifying larger quantities of
organic compounds.
■ High-Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC): More precise
and quantitative for complex mixtures.
4. Extraction:
○ Purpose: To separate compounds based on their solubility in different
solvents (liquid-liquid extraction).
○ Procedure:
■ Mix the impure substance with an organic solvent in a separating
funnel.
■ Shake the mixture and allow the layers to separate.
■ Collect the organic layer and evaporate the solvent to obtain the
purified substance.
B. Characterization:
1. Melting Point/Boiling Point Determination:
○ Purpose: To confirm the identity of a compound and assess its purity.
○ Procedure:
■ Use a melting point apparatus to determine the melting point of a
solid.
■ Use a boiling point apparatus for liquids.
■ Pure substances have sharp melting/boiling points; impurities usually
cause broadening or depression.
2. Infrared Spectroscopy (IR):
○ Purpose: To identify functional groups in the compound.
○ Procedure:
■ Place a small amount of the sample in an IR spectrometer.
■ Analyze the absorption bands, which correspond to specific vibrational
modes of bonds (e.g., C-H, N-H, O-H, C=O).
○ Interpretation:
■ The presence of specific functional groups (e.g., hydroxyl, carbonyl)
can be confirmed by characteristic absorption peaks.
3. Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) Spectroscopy:
○ Purpose: To determine the structure of the compound by observing the
interaction of nuclear spins in a magnetic field.
○ Procedure:
■ Dissolve the compound in deuterated solvent (e.g., CDCl₃).
■ Analyze the proton (¹H NMR) and/or carbon (¹³C NMR) spectra.
○ Interpretation:
■ Chemical shifts, splitting patterns, and integration values help in
deducing the number and environment of hydrogen and carbon atoms
in the molecule.
4. Mass Spectrometry (MS):
○ Purpose: To determine the molecular weight and possible fragmentation
pattern of the compound.
○ Procedure:
■ Introduce the sample into the mass spectrometer.
■ Analyze the spectrum for the molecular ion peak and fragmentation
peaks.
○ Interpretation:
■ The molecular ion peak corresponds to the molecular weight of the
compound, and the fragmentation pattern provides clues to the
structure.
5. UV-Vis Spectroscopy:
○ Purpose: To analyze compounds that absorb ultraviolet or visible light
(typically used for conjugated systems).
○ Procedure:
■ Place the sample in a UV-Vis spectrometer and record the absorption
spectrum.
○ Interpretation:
■ Absorption maxima correspond to electronic transitions in conjugated
systems (e.g., aromatic rings).
C. Chemical Tests (Optional):
● Flame test: To identify the presence of metals in an organic compound (e.g., alkali or
alkaline earth metals).
● Bromine test: To detect alkenes by the decolorization of bromine water.
● Tollens' test: To identify aldehydes by the formation of a silver mirror.
● Baeyer test: To detect unsaturation in compounds using potassium permanganate.
4. Data Analysis:
● Compare the melting point, IR, NMR, and MS spectra of the purified compound with
reference data (e.g., literature values) to confirm its identity.
● Analyze any discrepancies between observed and expected data to assess purity
and structural features.
5. Conclusion:
● The pure organic substance has been successfully isolated and characterized.
● The characterization techniques (melting/boiling point, IR, NMR, MS) confirm the
identity and purity of the compound.
