EXTRACTION OF CAFFEINE FROM DRIED TEA LEAVES

Maria Andrea Dagala, Elisha de Guzman, Katrina de Lara,

Jes Deiparine, Jorina Diaz, Doxa Espina
Group 3 2A Medical Technology Organic Chemistry Laboratory

ABSTRACT
This experiment was performed to compare multiple extraction from single extraction and to get the percentage
recovery of the extract. The group was assigned to do multiple extractions. The tea leaves were boiled in a mixture of
4.4 g of anhydrous sodium carbonate and 100 mL of water and the caffeine was extracted from the mixture three
times by 20 mL dichloromethane. The extracted caffeine was added with anhydrous sodium sulfate and was
evaporated to dryness. The percentage recovery was computed by getting the ratio of the weight of caffeine and the
weight of tea bags multiplied to 100, giving the experimenters the percentage recovery of 25.7%.

INTRODUCTION
Extraction is the process wherein a solvent
added to a mixture mixes with the desired
component separating it from others, therefore
forming 2 immiscible liquids.[1] There are two
general types of extraction, the Liquid-Liquid
extraction and the Liquid-Solid extraction. The
former uses a separator funnel to separate the
two immiscible liquids from the addition of a
solvent to a liquid while the latter is the addition
of a solvent to a solid.[2] The Liquid-Liquid
extraction was used in the experiment. There are
also two types of Liquid-Liquid extraction, they
are the Simple and Multiple Extraction. Simple
extraction is the process of extracting by one
time only or by one batch. Multiple extraction, on
the other hand, involves the process of extracting
by multiple times or by several batches, therefore
yielding more extract.[3] In this experiment, the
group was assigned to do multiple extraction. The
objectives of this experiment are 1.) to compare
single from multiple extraction and 2.) to get the
percentage recovery of the caffeine extracted.

EXPERIMENTAL
A. COMPOUNDS USED (or Samples used)
Dried tea leaves
B. PROCEDURE
For this experiment, the researchers
conducted the liquid-liquid extraction. The group
performed a multiple extraction on dried tea
leaves and calculated for the percentage recovery
from the extracted caffeine.
1. Boiling of tea leaves
The materials used for the experiment and
how they were used are the following: A hot plate
was used to heat a 500 mL beaker containing 4.4
g of anhydrous sodium carbonate and 100 mL of
distilled water which was boiled and mixed until
the solid was dissolved. 10 g of tea leaves were

placed in the mixture and was boiled for 10

minutes. After boiling, the tea bags were
removed and squeezed with the aid of a stirring
rod to remove the liquid out of it.
2. Multiple extraction
In this part of the experiment, the researchers
used the following materials and they were
utilized as following: The cooled tea mixture
was transfered to a separatory funnel
containing 20 mL of dichloromethane and it
was gently turned upside down for three times
and the stopcock was opened to release the air
pressure inside. It was let to stand for 2
minutes or until the separation of the 2 layers
was visible. The organic layer or the bottom
layer was then drained in a clean erlenmeyer
flask. This procedure was repeated for two
more times to consume the other 40 mL of
dichloromethane to complete the multiple
extraction.
The extract was then added with half a spatula
of anhydrous sodium sulfate to remove all the
excess water and it was then decanted to a tared
evaporating dish and was evaporated until
dryness under the fumehood. After evaporation,
the residue was then weighed and the percentage
recovery was calculated

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

Multiple extraction was assigned to the
group. It is a lot more efficient than simple
extraction allowing more caffeine to be extracted.
As seen from Figure 1 on the next page,
there are two layers that were formed. The upper
layer, or the aqueous layer comprising of mostly
water and other constituents. While the bottom
layer of greater density is the organic layer
wherein it is comprised of the dichloromethane
and the caffeine.

Using the formula:

wC=Weight of caffeine
wT= Weight of tea leaves used
wC=Weight of evaporating dish and caffeineweight of empty evaporating dish

wC 1233.72g 131.15g
2.57g

%recovery

wC
2.57g
x100
x100
wT
10.0g

25.7%

%recovery
25.7%

Figure 1. Extraction set-up[4]

The boiling of the tea bags helped in getting out
the caffeine from the tea leaves as the solubility
of the caffeine increases in water with heat.
Anhydrous sodium carbonate was used to remove
tannins from caffeine by converting it into salts to
ensure purity of the extract. After boiling, the
cooling of the tea mixture helped in the decrease
in the solubility of the caffeine in water, so it
would be a lot easier to extract caffeine as their
bonds were weakened, this had helped in the
migration of caffeine to the organic layer upon
contact with dichloromethane to which they are a
more soluble[5].
The use of the anhydrous sodium sulfate helped
in drying out the dichloromethane and to remove
the excess water in the mixture before
evaporation to help ensuring pureness of the
caffeine extract.
Data gathered from the experiment are the
following:
Weight of tea leaves used

10 g

Weight of evaporating dish

and caffeine
Weight of empty
evaporating dish
Weight of Caffeine

133.72 g

Table 1. Table of data gathered

131.15 g
2.57 g

wC
2.57g
x100
x100
wT
10.0g

2.57g
x100
10g

The percentage recovery of 25.7% was obtained

from getting the ratio of the weight of caffeine,
which is 2.57 g from subtracting the weight of
the evaporating dish with caffeine and the empty
evaporating dish, and the weight of the tea bags
used which is 10 g and was multiplied by 100.

REFERENCES
From books
Bathan, G., et. al (2014). Laboratory manual in
Organic Chemistry: Revised edition. Manila:
C&E Publishing, Inc. p 27-28.
From the Internet
[1]

Chemicool.
Definition
of
extraction.
Retrieved
October
5,2015
from
http://www.chemicool.com/definition/extracti
on.html

[2]

Riley, J. 3.2 Liquid-Solid Extraction. Retrieved

October
5,2015
from
http://www.dsbscience.com/freepubs/forensi
c_intern/node22.html

[3]

FunQA. Which is more efficient, simple or

multiple extraction? Why?. Retrieved October
5,2015
from
http://www.funqa.com/chemistry/2501-1Chemistry-4.html

[4]

Wikibooks. Liquid-liquid Extraction. Retrieved

October
5,2015
from
https://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Structural_Bio
chemistry/Organic_Chemistry/Methods_of_S
eparation_and_Isolation#/media/File:Liquid_
liquid_extraction.png

[5]

Safasmets & Wildrewolf. Is caffeine more

soluble in water or in dichloromethane? How
can you tell?. Retrieved October 5,2015 from
https://ph.answers.yahoo.com/question/inde
x?qid=20091107133846AA5Z1hN