A student completed the synthesis of salicyclic acid just as we did in our laboratory activity. They used 2.925 g of methyl salicylate, 3.5 mL of 6.0 M NaOH, an

Question

A student completed the synthesis of salicyclic acid just as we did in our laboratory activity. They used 2.925 g of methyl salicylate, 3.5 mL of 6.0 M NaOH, and 4.1 mL of 6.0 M HCl. They obtained 0.886 g of product.

 

Wwas the methyl salicylate (MS) or the sodium hydroxide (SH) the limiting reagent for the first step?


                 was the limiting reagent



What is the theoretical yield of salicylic acid in this experiment?


                 g of salicylic acid



What is the percent yield on this experiment?


                 %

Answer 1

I'll get you started, and hopefully you can finish.

You really need to write down and study the balanced equation for this reaction.  I'll provide it, since you didn't.

In words, it is 1 methylsalicylate + 2 NaOH + 1 H2SO4 ==> 1 salicylic acid + 1 sodium sulfate + 1 methanol + 1 water

C₈H₈O₃ + 2NaOH + H₂SO₄ ==> C₄H₆O₃ + Na₂SO₄ + CH₃OH + H₂O

Find the limiting reactant by calculating moles of each reactant (g/molar mass) and using stoichiometry, find which one produces the least amount of product, salicylic acid.

The theoretical yield will be the mass of salicylic acid produced by the moles of limiting reactant.

The percent yield will be the actual yield (0.886 g) divided by the theoretical yield determined in the previous step (x100%).

Give it a try and if you have problems, submit again with what you've done and where your problems lie.