Infrared and UV Spectroscopy

Welcome!

April 04, 2003
 
 
 
Materials Needed
  • 9 unknowns
    • acetonylacetone
    • benzaldehyde
    • benzonitrile
    • butan-1-ol
    • cyclohexanone
    • diethylmalonate
    • (-)-limonene
    • (+)-limonene
    • toluene
  • Two salt plates
  • Dichloromethane (for rinsing salt plates)
  • Two small beakers (for rinsed salt plates)
  • 1 pipette
  • Infrared spectrometer

Procedure

  • Dr. Salvador provided each group with one of the nine unknowns
  • The unknowns were placed between two salt plates
  • Salt plates were then placed into an infrared spectrometer and their light intensity was measured
  • A graph appeared showing the unknown's intensity and was printed
  • After experiment, we rinsed the salt plates with dichloromethane by using the two beakers and a pipette
  • We then compared our graph with the graphs on Dr. Salvador's web page to discover our "unknown"

Observations & Results

  • To identify  our unknown we first used the books flowchart to attempt to identify our printout.  Using the flowchart we determined that our unknown was a possible caroxilic acid.  It contained 2 unsaturations or rings.  From further analyzing we were able to determine that there was one unsaturation and one aromatic ring.  By also using the website database we were able to determine that our unknown acetonylacetone.

Email us if you have any
questions/comments
about our webpage
 
Terese Marie Nunez
Hugo Tapia
Rachel Sierra
 

unknown.jpg
Two salt plates holding our "unknown"