SIMPLE EXTRACTION OF CAFFEINE FROM DRIED TEA LEAVES Venneth P. Pascual, Maria Philina Rita C.

Pasicolan, Paolo Miguel F. Pineda, Christian E. Pontanares, and Christelle M. Primaleon Group 8 2F Medical Technology Organic Chemistry Laboratory ABSTRACT
Caffeine was collected from tea leaves through the method called extraction. The experimental setup used was a simple extraction setup. The tea mixture was introduced to dichloromethane once. Two layers of solution were formed and identified as the aqueous layer and the organic layer. Anhydrous sodium sulfate was used as drying agent to remove the water from the layer. The appearance of the obtained dried caffeine was white crystalline with green pigments. These green pigments were said to be impurities, representing the chlorophyll. The calculated percentage yield was 21.7%.

INTRODUCTION
Extraction is a separation technique used in a mixture of substances of different solubility. It is commonly used in separating an organic compound from a mixture of compounds. The principle behind extraction is the use of immiscible solutions to separate the desired substance for one of these solutions is capable of dissolving the desired substance. There are two types of extraction that are commonly performed in the laboratory, namely: simple extraction and multiple extraction. Simple extraction is done when dichloromethane is added once in the tea mixture but when it is added thrice, it is called multiple extraction. Other types of extraction include Liquid-Liquid Extraction (LLE), Solid-Phase Extraction (SPE), Solid Phase Microextraction (SPME), Stir Bar Sorptive Extraction (SBSE) and Liquid-Phase Microextraction (LPME). The apparatus used in extraction is a separatory funnel. It is a special kind of funnel that has a conical shape glass body which has a ground glass joint which can be shut with a stopper and a stem installed with stopcock where the separation of substances are done. The objective of this study is to compare simple and multiple extraction of caffeine from dried tea leaves and to calculate the percent yield of caffeine for both extraction procedures.

B. Procedure
The experimental setup in this study was simple extraction. Prior to the experiment, 4.4g of anhydrous sodium carbonate was prepared and an empty evaporating dish was weighed. 1. Preparation of tea mixture The 4.4g anhydrous sodium carbonate was added to the 100mL distilled water and then, the mixture was heated. The 10g tea leaves (5 tea bags) were deep to the mixture and were boiled for 10 minutes. The tea bags were squeezed using a glass rod.

METHODOLOGY A. Materials
The Lipton tea bags were the source for the dried tea leaves sample. The chemicals used in this experiment were dichloromethane, sodium carbonate and sodium sulfate. This experiment required Bunsen burner, separatory funnel, Erlenmeyer flask, glass rod, evaporating dish, iron stand, iron ring and iron clamp for the extraction setup.

2. Extraction The tea extract was poured inside the separatory funnel, and then 60mL dichloromethane was added. The separatory funnel was turned upside-down to mix the tea extract and dichloromethane and then the stopcock was opened to release the pressure inside the separatory funnel. This procedure was repeated for several times and the solution was put to rest for 2 minutes. The organic layer was drained by releasing the stopcock and it was collected using an Erlenmeyer flask. Anhydrous sodium sulfate was added to the organic layer to react with the impurities of the solution thus forming a precipitate. These precipitate were decanted and removed. The aqueous layer was discarded. The organic layer was transferred into a pre-weighed evaporating dish and was put inside the fume hood to let it evaporate to dryness. The residue was weighed. 3. Percent Yield

The percentage yield was computed by dividing the weight of caffeine to the weight of the tea leaves, and then multiplied by 100.

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

Caffeine was extracted from the dried tea leaves through simple extraction method. Dichloromethane was added to the tea mixture once. The two solutions were mixed thru maneuver done on the separatory funnel. Consequently two layers of different colors were produced. As shown in Figure 1, these layers were identified as the aqueous layer (upper layer) and the organic layer (lower layer). The aqueous layer was brown in color while the organic layer was clear. The dichloromethane was present in the organic layer for it is insoluble, and denser than water (see Table 1). Cluster of bubbles beneath the aqueous layer, called the emulsion layer was also produced. This layer was removed by pulling it up to the aqueous layer using a glass rod, and then the organic layer was drained. Anhydrous sodium sulfate was used as a drying agent. It was added to absorb the water that dissolved some dichloromethane. The organic layer was dried inside a fume hood. Green pigments were seen during the

drying process. These were identified as chlorophyll which is an impurity. Table 2 presents the raw data obtained in this experiment. In this experiment, 5 tea bags of 2g of tea leaves are used, hence, multiplying 5 by 2g will yield 10g. The weight of caffeine is equal to the difference of the weight of the empty evaporating dish and the weight of evaporating dish plus caffeine. The calculated difference was 2.17g. Figure 2 shows the formula and computation for percent yield. By dividing the weight of the caffeine by the weight of tea leaves, then multiplying it by 100. The calculated percent yield was 21.7%.

REFERENCES
Bunnelle, W. H., Meyer, L. A. and Glaser, R. E. Extraction. http://www.chem.missouri.edu/chem2050/expt_ 2.pdf 07/20/12 Wells, M. J. M. Principles of Extraction and the Extraction of Semivolatile Organics from Liquids. www2.sci.u-szeged.hu/inorg/Sample prep for organics.pdf 07/20/12

SIMPLE EXTRACTION OF CAFFEINE FROM DRIED TEA LEAVES Venneth P. Pascual, Maria Philina Rita C. Pasicolan, Paolo Miguel F. Pineda, Christian E. Pontanares, and Christelle M. Primaleon Department of Pharmacy, Faculty of Pharmacy University of Santo Tomas, Espana Street, Manila 1008 ABSTRACT
Caffeine was collected from tea leaves through the method called extraction. The experimental setup used was a simple extraction setup. The tea mixture was introduced to dichloromethane once. Two layers of solution were formed and identified as the aqueous layer and the organic layer. Anhydrous sodium sulfate was used as drying agent to remove the water from the layer. The appearance of the obtained dried caffeine was white crystalline with green pigments. These green pigments were said to be impurities, representing the chlorophyll. The calculated percentage yield was 21.7%.

INTRODUCTION
Extraction is a separation technique used in a mixture of substances of different solubility. It is commonly used in separating an organic compound from a mixture of compounds. The principle behind extraction is the use of immiscible solutions to separate the desired substance for one of these solutions is capable of dissolving the desired substance. There are two types of extraction that are commonly performed in the laboratory, namely: simple extraction and multiple extraction. Simple extraction is done when dichloromethane is added once in the tea mixture but when it is added thrice, it is called multiple extraction. Other types of extraction include Liquid-Liquid Extraction (LLE), Solid-Phase Extraction (SPE), Solid Phase Microextraction (SPME), Stir Bar Sorptive Extraction (SBSE) and Liquid-Phase Microextraction (LPME). The apparatus used in extraction is a separatory funnel. It is a special kind of funnel that has a conical shape glass body which has a ground glass joint which can be shut with a stopper and a stem installed with stopcock where the separation of substances are done. The objective of this study is to compare simple and multiple extraction of caffeine from dried tea leaves and to calculate the percent yield of caffeine for both extraction procedures.

used in this experiment were dichloromethane, sodium carbonate and sodium sulfate. This experiment required Bunsen burner, separatory funnel, Erlenmeyer flask, glass rod, evaporating dish, iron stand, iron ring and iron clamp for the extraction setup.

B. Procedure
The experimental setup in this study was simple extraction. Prior to the experiment, 4.4g of anhydrous sodium carbonate was prepared and an empty evaporating dish was weighed. 1. Preparation of tea mixture The 4.4g anhydrous sodium carbonate was added to the 100mL distilled water and then, the mixture was heated. The 10g tea leaves (5 tea bags) were deep to the mixture and were boiled for 10 minutes. The tea bags were squeezed using a glass rod. 2. Extraction The tea extract was poured inside the separatory funnel, and then 60mL dichloromethane was added. The separatory funnel was turned upside-down to mix the tea extract and dichloromethane and then the stopcock was opened to release the pressure inside the separatory funnel. This procedure was repeated for several times and the solution was put to rest for 2 minutes. The organic layer was drained by releasing the stopcock and it was collected using an Erlenmeyer flask. Anhydrous sodium sulfate was added to the organic layer to react with the impurities of the solution thus forming a precipitate. These precipitate were decanted and removed. The

METHODOLOGY A. Materials
The Lipton tea bags were the source for the dried tea leaves sample. The chemicals

aqueous layer was discarded. The organic layer was transferred into a pre-weighed evaporating dish and was put inside the fume hood to let it evaporate to dryness. The residue was weighed. 3. Percent Yield The percentage yield was computed by dividing the weight of caffeine to the weight of the tea leaves, and then multiplied by 100.

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

Caffeine was extracted from the dried tea leaves through simple extraction method. Dichloromethane was added to the tea mixture once. The two solutions were mixed thru maneuver done on the separatory funnel. Consequently two layers of different colors were produced. As shown in Figure 1, these layers were identified as the aqueous layer (upper layer) and the organic layer (lower layer). The aqueous layer was brown in color while the organic layer was clear. The dichloromethane was present in the organic layer for it is insoluble, and denser than water (see Table 1). Cluster of bubbles beneath the aqueous layer, called the emulsion layer was also produced. This layer was removed by pulling it up to the aqueous layer using a glass rod, and then the organic layer was drained.

Anhydrous sodium sulfate was used as a drying agent. It was added to absorb the water that dissolved some dichloromethane. The organic layer was dried inside a fume hood. Green pigments were seen during the drying process. These were identified as chlorophyll which is an impurity. Table 2 presents the raw data obtained in this experiment. In this experiment, 5 tea bags of 2g of tea leaves are used, hence, multiplying 5 by 2g will yield 10g. The weight of caffeine is equal to the difference of the weight of the empty evaporating dish and the weight of evaporating dish plus caffeine. The calculated difference was 2.17g. Figure 2 shows the formula and computation for percent yield. By dividing the weight of the caffeine by the weight of tea leaves, then multiplying it by 100. The calculated percent yield was 21.7%.

REFERENCES
Bunnelle, W. H., Meyer, L. A. and Glaser, R. E. Extraction. http://www.chem.missouri.edu/chem2050 /expt_2.pdf 07/20/12 Wells, M. J. M. Principles of Extraction and the Extraction of Semivolatile Organics from Liquids. www2.sci.uszeged.hu/inorg/Sample prep for organics.pdf 07/20/12

APPENDIX A Table 1. Density of Water and Dichloromethane Water

1.00g/mL

Percent Yield

Figure 2. Computation of Percent Yield

Dichloromethane

1.325g/mL

Table 2. Raw Data and Percent Yield Weight of tea leaves

10g

Weight of empty evaporating dish

103.97g

Weight of evaporating dish + caffeine

106.14g

Weight of caffeine Percent yield

2.17g

21.7%

Figure 1. Simple Extraction Setup