Chem 443
Lab II
Fall 2015
Optional Topics
Determination of Impurities in Bio-Produced Succinic Acid.
Succinic acid is an essential chemical to be used for making of the polymers. New green chemistry production
pathways are evaluated for the production of the succinic acid. One of those is the use of bacteria or yeast. In
order to evaluate the effectiveness of these bio-processes, students will need to test for impurities in the final
product of succinic acid.
Methods used: Liquid-Solid extraction followed by derivatization and GC-MS analysis
Sample: material: two samples of bio-produced succinic acid.
Determination of Fungicides in Window Treatment
Window manufacturing companies need to ensure that their windows are resistant to weathering. They ensure
this by pre-treatment of all wooden parts with common fungicides, such as tebuconazole, propiconazole.
Methods used: Sonication or Soxhlet, SPE and GC/MS analysis
Samples: 6 samples of wood treated with fungicides
Determination of Resveratrol in Natural Products
Resveratrol is a natural antioxidant found in various food products and natural supplements. In order to ensure
an impact of the resveratrol diet on various medical conditions, the concentration must be determined in both
the food supplement and blood. In this task, students will determine the concentration of resveratrol in two
products of their selection.
Methods used: Sonication and LC-MS analysis
Sample material: two samples of food or natural products claiming to contain resveratrol.
Extraction of Essential Oils from Herbs
Common sources for flavor and fragrances are herbs such as savory, peppermint, sage. The pure essential oils
typically consist of two distinct groups of chemical constituents; the hydrocarbons which are made up almost
exclusively of terpenes (e.g., limonene), and the oxygenated compounds such as menthol, methone. The goal of
this task is to determine the concentrations of major essential oil’s components in two different herbs/plants of
student selection.
Methods used: Sonication, PFE, Soxhlet, and GC-MS analysis
Sample material: two samples of herbs or natural products expected to contain typical constituents of essential
oils.
Determination of Phthalates
Phthalate esters are used as plasticizers in various materials. Since they are introduced as additives, they are noncovalently bound and are thus extractable. Recently numerous agencies, e.g., EPA, set regulation limits due to
phthalates’ toxicological impact which is partly due to their tendency to be leached. In this task, students will be
determining the concentrations of phthalates in products suspected for the occurrence of phthalates (e.g., toys)
Methods used: Sonication, Soxhlet, and GC-MS analysis
Sample: two plastic materials suspected to contain phthalate materials (e.g., toys)
Determination of BTEX in Gasoline
BTEX are an important class of volatile environmental contaminants and are frequently
analyzed in environmental and drinking waters. In this lab, students will be determining the concentrations of
BTEX in fuels.
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Chem 443
Lab II
Fall 2015
Methods used: GC-MS analysis
Sample: four different fuels
Determination of Sulfonamides
The sulfonamides are frequently used as synthetic antimicrobial agents (antibiotics). The examples of sulfadrugs
are sulfadimethoxine, sulfamethoxypyridazine, sulfamethazine, sulfamethizole. Besides their positive impact
providing society with medications, these sulfonamides are also a concern due to potential environmental
contamination of for example water resources.
Thus the task of this lab will be the determination of sulfonamides in two aqueous samples.
Methods used: LC-MS analysis
Sample: two different aqueous samples
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