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Gas Distillation Lab Report

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As the distillate was obtained from the steam distillation, several liquid-liquid extractions with methylene chloride were performed in separatory funnels to separate the aqueous water layer from the organic layer. The formation of two distinct layers occurred because the two liquids are immiscible and will not mix together because of their solubility and density differences. The organic methylene chloride layer formed the bottom layer, because it is more dense than water forcing the aqueous water layer to the top. The organic layer at the bottom was dispensed into a flask, leaving the aqueous layer in the funnel to perform two additional washes. The next extractions were done using ether and the remaining organic layer liquid from the flask. Ether is less dense than water so the organic ether layer formed the top layer and the aqueous layer formed at the bottom. …show more content…

The organic layer was transferred into a smaller flask using a pipette and placed onto a hot plate to boil out the methylene chloride and ether from the solution to isolate the clove oil. The clove oil was a slight yellowish color and weighed out to about a gram. The oil that was collected was analysed using the IR spectrometer. The resulting data obtained from the spectrophotometer was subsequently analyzed to identify and confirm presence of functional groups. Major functional groups present in the graph were expected. The groups include the presence of an alcohol, carbon-hydrogen bond, carbon-carbon double bond and a benzene ring.The GC-2014 Shimadzu gas chromatograph was used to determine percent composition of oil with eugenol at 61.31% and beta-caryophyllene at 28.21%

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