The Extraction of Caffeine from

Tea
Ian McCoy, Peter Foradora, and Seth Braid
Period: 4
Date Due: 3/20/17

1
Abstract:
This experiment will allow the caffeine to be extracted from a bag of tea. To do so, heat
the bag of tea in a one molar sodium bicarbonate (Na2CO3) solution in a beaker over a hot plate.
This will remove the contents of the bag including the liquid caffeine. Next, ethyl acetate
C4H8O2 will be added to the remaining solution. Separate this solution into two separate
centrifuge tubes and place it in the centrifuge for four minutes. This will separate the ethyl
acetate and caffeine apart from the darker solution at the bottom. A pipet will then be used to
remove the clear liquid and place it into a separate test tube. Na2CO3 will then be added to the
test tubes to extract the water from the remaining solution. Once the the Na2CO3 stops slumping
up and starts “falling like snow” to the bottom of the test tube, the solution of caffeine and
Na2CO3 can then be poured into a beaker. A sublimation apparatus is then set up and the solution
will form pure caffeine from the remaining solution. The experimental mass of caffeine was
20.1 mg and the actual mass of caffeine was 55 mg. This was an absolute and percent error of 35
mg and 64%.

Discussion:
The purpose of this laboratory exercise is to successfully extract caffeine from tea leaves
using simple organic extraction techniques. There are some drugs that are naturally occurring.
Some examples of these kind of drugs are listed below.
● Heroin and morphine → Opium poppy
● Cocaine→ Coca leaves
● Aspirin→ Willow bark
● Ecstasy→ Sassafras root
● Penicillin→ Penicillium mold
Caffeine is also a naturally occurring drug that can be found in about 60 plant species, of which
cocoa beans, kola nuts, tea leaves and coffee beans are the most common.
Caffeine's chemical structure is shown below:

Caffeine is isolated from other compounds in the natural source by using a technique called
liquid extraction. In this method you separate compounds based on their relative solubilities in
two different immiscible liquids, usually water and an organic solvent. A centrifuge is a machine
that revolves very fast, mainly used to separate liquids. The fast rotation creates a strong
centripetal force, causing the denser liquid to move the the bottom of the container. This machine
will be used in the lab to extract the caffeine and ethyl acetate from the other elements in the
solution.

2
Sources:
www.betterhealth.vic.gov.
www.theweek.com

Objectives:
In this lab you will…
1. Extract caffeine from tea leaves.
2. Calculate the percent of caffeine in a tea bag.
Materials:
- 50, 100, 400 mL Beakers - Plastic Pipet
- 10 mL Graduated Cylinder - 1 Tea Bag - String and tag removed
- 2 5 mL centrifuge Tubes - 1 M Na2CO3
- Small Test Tube w/ cork stopper - Aluminum Foil (10 cm X 10 cm)
- Stirring Rod - Ethyl Acetate
- Analytical Balance - Na2SO4
- Beaker Tongs - Sand
- Crucible Tongs - Ice
- Hot Plate - Scoopula
- Centrifuge - Safety Goggles
- Paper Towels
Safety:
- Wear safety goggles at all times.
- No open flame is to be used in organic lab. Many organic compounds are flammable.
- Balance the centrifuge carefully. An unbalanced centrifuge can cause serious harm to an
individual.
Procedure:
Part 1: Tea Extraction
1. Find and record the mass of a tea bag with tea. Record the mass of an empty tea bag
from the chalkboard.
2. Place 10 mL of a 1 M Na2CO3 solution in a 50 mL beaker. Place the beaker on the hot
plate.
a. Pinch the top of the bag with a 10cm X 10 cm piece of Al foil. Put the bag into
the solution, but wrap wht Al foil around the top of the beaker. This will keep the
bag off of the bottom of the beaker.
b. Poke a small hole in the Al foil to allow steam to escape, and to add distilled
water to the solution as needed to maintain the 10 mL level.
c. Boil for 5 minutes. DO NOT ALLOW IT TO BOIL OVER.

3
 3. Carefully remove the beaker from hot plate using crucible tongs. Allow to air cool for a
few minutes, then cool to room temperature quickly using an ice bath. Remove the foil
and the bag. Squeeze out excess fluid from tea bag with crucible tongs being careful not
to break the bag. Discard the tea bag. You should have no more than 8 mL of solution.
If you have more, boil off more water to concentrate the solution.
- If you need to boil longer, make sure the outside of the 50 mL beaker is dry
before placing it on the hot plate. Be sure to cool the extract to room temperature
in ice bath.
Part 2: Ethyl Acetate Extraction
4. Add 3 mL of ethyl acetate to the solution. Gently swirl the beaker for about 30
seconds.
5. Add half of the solution to a 5 mL centrifuge tube, and the other half to a second 5 mL
centrifuge tube. Make sure the volumes are exactly equal.
- Balance the centrifuge by putting the tubes in opposite holes
- Centrifuge the mixture for four minutes.
6. Remove tubes from centrifuge. Using a plastic pipet, carefully remove the clear upper
layer of liquid. Squeeze the bulb of the pipet before putting the tip of the pipet into the
liquid. Put the tip all the way to the bottom of the clear layer and release the bulb slowly.
This will be a mixture of caffeine and ethyl acetate. Place this liquid into a small test
tube. Remove as much of the clear layer as possible.
7. Pout the dark layer back into the beaker. Repeat steps 4 - 7 without cleaning the
centrifuge tubes or the beaker. After each extraction, be sure to pipet the clear top layer
into your test tube.
8. After the third extraction, discard the lower dark layer down the sink with plenty of
running water.
Part 3: “Drying” and Evaporating the Ethyl Acetate/Caffeine Mixture
9. Add a small amount (½ pea-sized) of Na2SO4 to your test tube. Gently tap the side of
the test tube. The crystals will clump. Continue to add small amounts of crystals to the
test tube until the addition of new crystals does not produce more clumping, or until you
cannot add more to the test tube.
10. Using the stirring rod, decant the fluid portion of your test tube into a 100 mL beaker
by carefully pouring the fluid along the stirring rod. Avoid getting any crystals of
Na2SO4 into the beaker.
11. After the decanting process is completed, the ethyl acetate must be carefully and
slowly evaporated leaving only the crude caffeine behind. Turn the hot plate on medium
high. Hold the 100 mL beaker a few centimeters above the surface of the hot plate and
swirl the mixture in the beaker. Do not let it boil. The solid crude caffeine will remain in
the beaker.
Part 4: Caffeine Sublimation
12. Assemble a sublimation apparatus as follows:

4
 - Clean and dry (inside and out) a 50 mL beaker. Record its mass.
- Place the 50 mL beaker inside the 100 mL beaker containing your crude caffeine.
This is your sublimation apparatus.
13. Place the sublimation apparatus on a hot plate and begin heating on medium heat.
Fill the small beaker with chips of ice. Do not let ice or water fall into the larger beaker.
14. Continue heating until the sublimation process is complete (all the crude caffeine is
off the outer beaker). When heated, the pure caffeine will sublime and deposit on the
outside of the 50 mL beaker. Carefully observe the sublimation process occurring
between the 50 and 100 mL beakers.
15. Remove the apparatus from the hot plate with beaker tongs and allow to cool.
Remove the inner beaker very cautiously and carefully pour off the ice water making
certain no water comes in contact with the sublimed caffeine crystals.
16. Dry the inside of the 50 mL beaker using a paper towel. Record the mass of the
beaker with the caffeine on the bottom. Scrape the product from the beaker into a small
test tube and cork it. Keep the caffeine for the TLC lab.
Cleanup:
- Discard the tea bags into the trash.
- Rinse the used sodium sulfate down the drain with plenty of running water.
- Clean all glassware with soapy water, rinsing three times with tap water and three times
with distilled water. Return used equipment to its proper location.
Data:
Using a centrifuge to calculate the amount of caffeine in a tea bag.
Mass w/ tea 2.4712 g

Mass without tea 0.1958 g

Amount of tea 2.2754 g

Mass of beaker 30. 0227 g

Mass of beaker w/ caffeine 30. 0428 g

Amount of caffeine 0.0201 g

Analysis/Calculations/Error:
Mass of tea in bag:
2.4712g - 0.1958g = 2.2754g
Mass of Caffeine:
30.0227g - 30.0428g = 0.0201g

5
 0.0201 g 1000 mg

1g
= 20.1 mg
% caffeine in one bag:
0.0201g / 2.2754g x 100% = 0.883%
Ea=|Xe-Xt|=|20.1 mg - 55 mg|= 35 mg
E%= Ea/Xt x 100%= 35 mg / 55 mg x 100%= 64%
Conclusions:
We had an absolute error of 35 mg and a percent error of 64%. We calculated the
amount of caffeine in one tea bag to be 20.1 mg when there is actually 55 mg of caffeine in one
tea bag.
Error affects your experimental results in many ways. For example, our data could have
been too low because I noticed that when we were transferring the ethyl acetate caffeine mixture
with a pipette, a few drops had missed the test tube and landed on the lab table, this would a
personal error. I also think that if we had centrifuged a few more times then the data would have
been more accurate, this would be a method/procedural error.
We were fairly pleased with our results, although our error was still pretty high, it was
lower than other groups. To improve the results of the lab I would add two more trials to part
two. I think it would improve the results to put the solution through the centrifuge a few more
times to get all of the caffeine out. We learned from this lab that you are able to extract the
caffeine out of a tea bag or even out of coffee which may require a slightly different process.
This lab can be related to the real world scenario of the role of the FDA. The Food and Drug
Administration is supposed to regulate the ingredients in all foods distributed in the U.S. Many
consumers rely on this organization to accurately label how much of one ingredient is in an item.
The FDA could use this process to extract the caffeine from a newly created drink and then
calculate the amount of caffeine that is in it.