Eugenol Synthesis Lab Report

The objective of this experiment was to create synthesize methyl eugenol from eugenol, dimethyl carbonate, and tetrabutylammonium bromide. To start off the experiment, a heating under reflux apparatus was used and the parts included: a water jacketed condenser, ring stand, tubes, flowing water, 25-mL round bottom flask, heating block, and a hot plate. There were two parts to the water condenser, entry and exit ways for water. The bottom opening was connected to the sink through one tube and the top opening was connected with a loose end, which was needed to get rid of the flowing water. To create the solution needed to synthesize methyl eugenol, approximately 0.200 g of eugenol (note: the measured g was converted to mg for later calculations) was measured, alongside approximately 1.2 g of TBAB and was added to the 25-mL round bottom flask. As a safety precaution, the measured 4.0 mL of DMC was added to the flask under the hood. A stir flea was then added and was used to dissolve the TBAB. After dissolving the TBAB, approximately 0.52 g of potassium carbonate was added to the flask (note: potassium carbonate is hygroscopic and could readily take in moisture).

Because the heating block readily increased in temperature, the temperature had to be adjusted accordingly to prevent the overheating the reaction. Initially, the color of the reaction turned into a dark green color and over time became a lighter shade with a minimal solid left. The reaction process lasted for 2 hours. As the reaction heated for 2 hours, a 50 mL beaker was weighed, approximately 12 mL of 20% ethyl acetate in hexane solution was added to a 25 mL Erlenmeyer flask, and 2.0 mL of saturated NaCl solution was added to a labeled test