Aspirin preparation

This module is designed to complement the Aspirin and Structure and Isomerism laboratory assignment. The preparation of aspirin that you will carry out is represented by the equation below.

    + CH3CO2H

As background for this you will consider
  • equipment and procedures used in the preparation
  • a method for assessing product purity
The Structure and Isomerism section of the experiment uses models to examine three-dimensional aspects of structure and isomerism. The module focuses on related aspects of this topic, namely
  • constitutional isomers of C5H12
  • interpretation of line structural formulae using the prostaglandin molecule shown at the right as the example.
Dr Sheila Woodgate
© The University of Auckland 2002