Luz Alcantara

Professor Vicente Navarro-Pareja

CHE 233 - 04

4th of December 2017

Column Chromatography

The purpose of this lab is to separate and purify a mixture of Fluorenone and

Acetylferrocene by column chromatography.

Physical Data

Compound Structure MW Density MP BP

Acetylferrocene 228.072 g/mol 1.014 g/mL 82 °C 161°C

Ferrocene 186.04 g/mol 1.11 g/mL 172.5°C 249°C

Alumina 101.96 g/mol 3.95 g/mL 2,072°C 2,977°C

(Not sure of the
structure)

Hexane 86.18 g/mol 0.6548 −95 °C 68°C

g/mL

Diethyl Ether 74.12 g/mol 0.706 g/mL -116.3°C 34.6°C

(Ether)

Procedure

1. Prepare the microscale alumina column exactly as described by your instructor.

2. Add 0.09 g of a 50:50 mixture of acetylferrocene and ferrocene that was adsorbed onto

0.3 g of alumina.

3. Carefully add hexanes to the column, open the valve, and elute the two compounds. Do

not allow the column to run dry.

4. Collect 10 mL of the first eluted, ferrocene, will be seen as a yellow band.

5. Any crystalline material at the tip of the valve should be washed into the flask with ether.
 6. Add a 50:50 mixture of hexane and ether, and elute the acetylferrocene, which will be

seen as an orange band. Collect it in a 10-mL flask.

7. Evaporate the solvents from the two flasks and determine the weights of the residues.

8. Calculate the percent recovery of the crude and recrystallized products based on the

0.045g quantity of each in the original mixture.

Data

Sand : 0.5g and 0.504g Alumina Absorption: 4.00g 50:50 Mixture: 0.09g

First Elution: (Ferrocene) Second Elution: (Acetylferrocene)

- Vile: 31.876g - Vile: 29.080g
- Vile + Ferrocene: 31.925g - Vile + Acetylferrocene: 29.118g
- Ferrocene: 0.049g - Acetylferrocene: 0.038g

Calculations

1. Percent Recovery:

0.049𝑔
a. Ferrocene: 0.045𝑔 𝑔100%= 108.9%

0.038𝑔
b. Acetylferrocene: 𝑔100%= 84.4%
0.045𝑔

2. Total Recovery:
a. (0.087g / 0.09g) x100 = 96.7%

Observations

The experiment was carried as expected. However when we first added hexane to the column we

notice that the stationary phase cracked. Then when we eluted the mixture, ferrocene was

observed with a yellow color and was the first to be eluted. While acetylferrocene is orange

colored and was the last one to be eluted.

CONCLUSION
Column Chromatography is used to separate large sample into its pure compounds. In this

experiment it was to effectively separate ferrocene,and acetylferrocene from a 50:50 mixture of

acetylferrocene and ferrocene that was adsorbed onto alumina. When we ran the column

chromatography we recovered our compound into two test tubes based on the order of elution.

Ferrocene was eluted first than acetylferrocene because ferrocene is less polar than

acetylferrocene. Polar compounds bind more to the stationary phase and move slower down the

column. While the non-polar compounds will bind less and will elute from the column faster. In

the first test tube 108.9% of ferrocene was collected then 84.4% of the acetylferrocene was

collected. In total, 96.7% of ferrocene and acetylferrocene was recovered from the original

mixture. Some errors that might have occurred while running a column chromatography is letting

the stationary phase run dry. This leads to the column support to crack up, as we observed during

the experiment.

Chapter Question

1. Predict the order of elution of a mixture of triphenylmethanol, biphenyl, benzoic acid,

and methyl benzoate from an alumina column.

First will be biphenyl, methyl benzoate, triphenylmethanol and benzoic acid would elute last.

2. Once the chromatographic column has been prepared, why is it important to allow the

level of the liquid in the column to drop to the level of the alumina before applying the

solution of the compound to be separated?

It's important to allow the level of the liquid in the column to drop to the level of alumina

before applying the solution of the compound to be separated because if you add it to the hexane

above the alumina, it will take time to sink and it will diffuse with the hexane.