Chromatography of Commercial Analgesics

Using the thin layer chromatography the major components of a commercial analgesic tablet will be indentified and purified. The active ingredients of the analgesic used were characterized by comparison with chromatograms of aspirin, acetaminophen, ibuprofen, mefanemic acid, and caffeine through the use of UV chromatography then the Rf value was calculated for each solvent.

INTRODUCTION In this experiment, thin-layer chromatography (TLC) will be used to determine the composition of various analgesics. Chromatography is a technique used to separate and identify individual components in a mixture. Chromatographic techniques make use of the fact that components of a mixture tend to move at
Let the solvent move up though capillary action until it reaches the front mark on top. Then remove the TLC plate and air dry it. V. Analysis and Documentation Place the TLC plate inside the UV chromatography box. Turn it on and mark the spots you can see using a pencil. Then calculate the Rf value for each corresponding spot.

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION The chromatograms of aspirin, caffeine, acetaminophen, ibuprofen, and mefanemic acid, and their Rf values as recorded in Table 1. aspirin | acetaminophen | ibuprofen | Mefanemic acid | caffeine | Sample analgesic | 2.8/4.1 = 0.68 | 2.4/4.1 = 0.59 | 2.3/4.1 = 0.56 | 3.2/4.1 = 0.78 | 1.3/4.1 = 0.32 | 2.3/4.1 = 0.56 | Substances: Rf Values: Table 1 As shown in the table above the sample analgesic has the same Rf value with ibuprofen, this thus prove that the active ingredient in the sample, Alaxan, is ibuprofen. Thin layer chromatography is a useful means of quickly characterizing the main active ingredients of certain commercial analgesics containing aspirin, caffeine, acetaminophen, mefanemic acid, and ibuprofen when they do not have many other organic compounds in significant proportions. In this case, it was determined by thin layer chromatography that in the sample Alaxan’s the most active is the ibuprofen and acetaminophen is can also be found. CONCLUSION Therefore, we