Wednesday, July 29, 2009

ASPIRIN

The Chemistry of AspirinAspirin, one of the first drugs to come into common usage, is still mostly the widely used in the world - approximately 35,000 metric tonnes are produced and consumed annually, enough to make over 100 billion standard aspirin tablets every year.
Aspirin, also known as 'acetylsalicylic acid', has a chemical formula of C9H8O4.


The chemical structure of aspirin:




Aspirin, is analgesic, anti-inflammatory, antipyretic and is an inhibitor of platelet aggregation. It inhibits fatty acid cyclo-oxygenase by acetylation of the active site of enzyme and the pharmacological effects of aspirin are due to the inhibition of the formation of cyclo-oxygenase products including prostglandins, thromboxanes and prostacyclin.
Aspirin is prepared by chemical synthesis from salicylic acid, by acetylation with acetic anhydride.


Reactions
Raw Materials

Phenol C6H5-OH
Sodium Hydroxide NaOH

Carbon Dioxide CO2
Acetic Anhydride CH3COOCOCH3
Hydrogen H

The Reactions
The production of aspirin from raw materials can be divided into four separate reactions. These are shown below:







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