Paracetaminophenol

The overall aim of our experiment was accomplished due to the fact that the compound produced was tested to be pure paracetamol. Its purity was tested by TLC, melting point range and NMR analysis. For the Melting Point Range Determination, samples of our re-crystallised p-aminophenol and paracetamol were placed into capillaries and into the melting point apparatus where data was recorded during the melt. Then, for the Thin Layer Chromatography, a TLC plate was prepared with four small dots loaded with p-aminophenol, our recrystallised p-aminophenol, our resultant paracetamol and commercial Panadol® respectively. When TLC was completed, it was transferred to a UV lamp box for analysis and data collection. Finally, for the NMR, a small sample of our produced paracetamol was mixed in a 2mL glass vial with 0.5 mL of DMSO. Finally, the solution was pipetted to an NMR tube for NMR analysis.

Our sample melting point range was 168-169 which when compared to the literature value of 169 degrees Celsius, indicated that our sample was paracetamol and relatively pure. Additionally, the NMR analysis resulted in values of Shift (ppm), Integration (relative number of protons) and Assignment (proton identification) as well as the number of peaks was similar to the ones observed in pure paracetamol. However, the TLC data was contrary to what was expected due to the Rf values of our paracetamol (0.678) and the commercial version (0.625) differed by 0.053, showing that our product might still have