Caffeine Analysis
By: Jordan Bourque, Jeremie Corriveau, Matthew Blackmore
General Information on Caffeine
Formula: C8H10N4O2
Molar Mass: 194.19 g/mol
CAS Registry Number: 58-08-2
Structure:
Caffeine MSDS - (Science Lab)
Health Benefits
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Regular coffee drinkers were 80 percent less likely to develop Parkinson's disease.
Two cups a day reduced subjects' risk for colon cancer by 20 percent.
Two cups a day caused an 80 percent drop in the odds of developing cirrhosis.
Two cups a day cut the risk of developing gallstones in half.
Studies have also suggested that caffeine is beneficial in treating asthma, stopping
headaches, boosting mood and even preventing cavities.
A study by the Byrd Alzheimer's Institute in Tampa, Fla., showed that lab mice
injected with caffeine were protected against developing Alzheimer's disease. The
injections even helped reduce symptoms in those that had the disease. The
findings lead doctors to believe that up to five cups of coffee a day could have the
same positive effect on humans.
Regular exercise combined with daily doses of caffeine could increase the
destruction of precancerous skin cells in mice. Once again, the findings have not
yet been tested on humans, but the indication is that it will have similar effects.
(Brain)
Health Risks
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When consuming too much caffeine, (500 to 600
mg) you can get some unpleasant side effects.
Insomnia
Nervousness
Restlessness
Irritability
Stomach upset
Fast heartbeat
Muscle tremors
However the amount of caffeine someone can
intake is also affected by their body type and
weight, previous consumption. Everyone is
different. Caffeine can kill you, however it is
extremely unlikely and would take a huge
amount of caffeine. In the average adult it
would take over 10grams of caffeine. For
example, it would take at least 160 cans of red
bull to kill me.
(Kovacs)
(Energy Fiend)
Acceptable Analyte Levels
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Usually in coffee you can expect
anywhere from
Brewed Coffee has between 80mg135mg in the average 7oz cup 198.4
grams
Drip Coffee has between 115mg175mh in the average 7oz cup
Espresso (average serving 1.5 – 2oz)
has 100mg
Instant Coffee has between 65100mg in a 7oz cup
Very rarely would you find more than
200mg in an average cup of coffee. A
Tim Hortons medium is 10 oz – 283.5
grams
("Learn more about," 2009 )
Instrumentation/Technique
• The best way for us to do caffeine analysis is High Performance Liquid
Chromatography
• In HPLC, the liquid is forced through a solid material in tightly packed
tubes, then run through an identifier
("High performance liquid," )
How it Works
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Used to separate mixtures, either to analyze it or to separate other
products. It is also used to find the relative amounts of different
components in a mixture
Using high power pumps, you pump a solution through columns
Like is attracted to like, and the mobile phase is pulling the
substance through the column but column is also pulling on the
substance. So depending on the attraction certain elements will stay
in the column for different periods of time, this is called retention
time
The retention time is unique to each substance
It is then run through an identifier, using its retention time it knows
what it is.
Then we use the computer to determine the area under each peak,
and use that to discover how much of the substance there is
("High performance liquid," )
Chemicals Needed
Phosphoric Acid
http://www.sciencelab.com/msds.php?msdsId=9
927393
Sodium Acetate
http://www.sciencelab.com/msds.php?msdsId=9
924952
25% aqueous Methanol Solution
http://www.midi-inc.com/pdf/MSDS_Methanol.pdf
Caffeine
MSDS - (Science Lab)
Training
The only training that you actually need to
have in order to perform this analysis is
training in the High Performance Liquid
Chromatography (HPLC)
Steps
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Machine Prep
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Light filter, remove grounds
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Got syringes, filled and added filters – Samples
labeled
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Picked a sample, filtered it ( through syringe )
into smaller container
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Picked up injector syringe, rinsed with sample
three times. Added smaller filter and needle to
the tip.
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Inserted syringe into HPLC machine
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Injected sample (through filter) into machine
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Set flow rate, turned on pump , switch inject
lever
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Turned on Computer Tracking component
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Observed graphs, made observations, then
repeated
References
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Learn more about coffee to caffeine ratio. (2009 , Aug 16 ). Retrieved
from http://www.articlesbase.com/coffee-articles/learn-more-aboutcoffee-to-caffeine-ratio-1131398.html
Brain, M. B. (n.d.). How caffeine works. Retrieved from
http://science.howstuffworks .com/caffeine6.htm
Science Lab. (n.d.). Caffeine msds. Retrieved from
http://www.dyediet.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/MSDS-Caffeine.pdf
Energy Fiend. (n.d.). Death by caffeine. Retrieved from
http://www.energyfiend.com/death-by-caffeine
Hplc - steps . (n.d.). Retrieved from
http://www.chem.agilent.com/Library/Support/Documents/a25883.pdf
Kovacs, B. K. (n.d.). Caffeine. Retrievedfrom
http://www.medicinenet.com/caffeine/article.htm
url: http://www.medicinenet.com/caffeine/article.htm