Purifying Acetanilide by Recrystallization

Purifying Acetanilide by Recrystallization

Four test tubes of 13x100 were obtained and labeled “Acetone”, “Water”, “Ethanol”, and “Petroleum Ether.” Approximately 100 mg of Acetanilide and 2.0 ml of appropriate solvent were added in each test tube. The test tubes were stirred thoroughly. After stirring, it was observed that in which solvent acetanilide is insoluble at room temperature. The insoluble test tubes were heated to boiling using the sand bath and were cooled to room temperature. Later, it was observed in which solvent acetanilide was soluble. The resulting solvent was further used for the experiment.

After finding which solvent to use, .500 grams of acetanilide was weighed in to a 50 ml Erlenmeyer flask. Shortly after, the resulting solvent was added to make the solid swirable. The mixture was heated to boiling using the sand bath and when all the solid dissolved, the solution was set to cool a little. When the solution was cooled down, a small amount