Human Physiology Essay

Submitted By wtamaru
Words: 2383
Pages: 10

Analgesic Drugs and Aspirin Synthesis

I. Introduction
Part A: Aspirin
Making Aspirin on my own!
Analgesics are the most common type of drug used around the world as a painkiller. There are many over-the –counter medications that blocks pain signals that are sent to the brain, which provides relief to the individual taking them (1). The two types of analgesics are non-narcotics and narcotics. These analgesics are very effective in relieving mild to moderate pain as well as sometimes even reducing inflammation. The drug that is being produced in this lab is Aspirin, which is one of the most popular over-the-counter drugs that relieves pain as well as acts as anti-inflammatory effects. These analgesics are readily available and have become a necessity to many cultures around the world.
The breakthrough in analgesics was discovered on accident in the late 1880’s. Two doctors that were actually trying to get rid of their patient’s worms by testing naphthalene discovered analgesics. The results showed a decrease in the patient’s fevers and showed some promise. After the results were out, the doctors realized that they didn’t treat the patients with naphthalene; instead they treated them with acetanilide. Once the news broke to the world, more and more people tried to synthesize compounds that were similar to acetanilide. Still today, we are still trying to synthesize many compounds that are similar to these kinds of drugs to help mankind.
Most of the analgesics are derived from three compounds salicylic acid, pyrazolone derivations, and phenacetin (2). Carl Duisber, the director of researcher for Bayer Company, which turned out to be a highly effective analgesic, created phenacetin (3). Of all the analgesics produced, aspirin (acetylsalicylic acid) is the most common one used around the world today. Aspirin is synthesized by reacting salicylic acid and acetic anhydride together. Like any other drugs that are taken, there are side effects from continuous use of the drug, which include the stomach wall and intestines becoming irritated and causing pain, nausea, vomiting, and bleeding. The main goal of this lab was to synthesize our own aspirin by combining the salicylic acid and acetic anhydride together through the following reaction.

B. Pipet
In this lab, there were many uses for different types of pipets. For the first part of the lab, we used an automatic pipet to measure different amounts of water and hexane to determine how accurate the pipet was. We also compared the accuracy of a graduated pipet and the automatic pipet. There are many different reasons to use the different types of pipets. The main reason to use an automatic pipet is to use them when you need precise measurements.
Procedures:
Automatic Pipet:
1. Weigh 3 ml conical vial plus the cap, determine weight to nearest milligram
2. Use automatic pipet to dispense .500 ml of water into vial, replace cap and weigh vial second time.
3. Determine the density of water.
4. Compare the calculated density of water to the given density.
5. Weight 5 ml conical vial plus the cap and determine the weight to nearest milligram
6. Use automatic pipet to dispense .500 ml of hexane into vial, replace cap and weigh the vial a second time.
7. Determine the density of hexane.
8. Compare the calculated density of hexane to the given value for hexane.

Graduated Pipet:
1. Weight 3 ml conical vial plus the cap and determine weight to nearest milligram.
2. Use 1.0 ml graduated pipet to dispense .50 ml of water into vial, and weigh the vial again.
3. Determine the density of water.
4. Compare the calculated density to the given density of water.
5. Weight 5 ml conical vial plus cap and determine the weight to nearest milligram.
6. Use. 1.0 ml graduated pipet to dispense .50 ml of hexane into conical vial, and determine the weight the vial again.
7. Determine the density of hexane.
8. Compare the