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Preparing aspirin and checking its purity template
Premium template. Preview and edit it free in MolDraw; downloading and exporting it is part of MolDraw Pro.
A-level / AP / IB: salicylic acid, ethanoic anhydride and an acid catalyst in a conical flask in a warm water bath with a thermometer, then Büchner filtration under vacuum; recrystallise and take the melting point.
What the template shows
- Ethanoylate salicylic acid in a warm water bath, then collect, recrystallise and melt the solid
- Then crystallise
- Add cold water carefully to destroy the excess anhydride, then stand the flask in ice until crystals form
- Water bath
- About 70 °C for 15 min, swirling now and then; thermometer in the water
- Reaction flask
- Salicylic acid, excess ethanoic anhydride and 5 drops of conc. H₂SO₄ or 85% H₃PO₄. Fume cupboard: the anhydride is corrosive
- Büchner funnel
- Filter, wash with a little ice-cold water, suck dry
- Purify and test
- Recrystallise from the minimum hot ethanol and water; dry. Pure aspirin melts sharply at about 135 °C. Iron(III) chloride turns purple if salicylic acid remains
- Pump or water aspirator
- Reaction setup
Drawn with 16 shapes – every one editable in MolDraw.
Sources
How to use this template
- Press Edit in MolDraw. The template opens on the canvas of the free MolDraw editor.
- Change anything: move structures, edit atoms and labels, recolour highlights or delete what you do not need.
- Add your own structures, arrows and text next to it, or combine several templates on one page.
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Frequently asked questions
Is the Preparing aspirin and checking its purity template free?
You can preview the Preparing aspirin and checking its purity template here and open and edit it in MolDraw for free. Downloading or exporting it is part of MolDraw Pro, together with the other premium templates.
Can I edit the Preparing aspirin and checking its purity template?
Yes. It opens as an ordinary MolDraw drawing, so every structure, arrow, label and colour can be changed, and you can add your own content around it.
Is the chemistry checked?
Every structure is checked with RDKit and every curly arrow passes MolDraw’s electron-flow audit. The sources used are listed on this page.
Can I edit the glassware?
Yes. Every piece of glassware is a MolDraw apparatus object: move, resize, recolour the liquid or swap a piece and the joints stay connected.