Robin Roland

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Caffeine Analysis of Excedrin and Excedrin PM

• Robin Roland

2
Introduction

• The purpose of this experiment was to analyze the
  caffeine content in regular Excedrin, and to
  determine if any caffeine was present in Excedrin
  PM.
• Both qualitative and quantitative analyses were
  used.
• Other materials in the drugs were examined as
  well.

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Methods

• Two techniques were used Thin Layer
  Chromatography and Gas Chromatogram Mass
  Spectrometry.
• Thin Layer Chromatography, or TLC, is a
  qualitative test that confirms the presence or
  absence of a compound.
• GCMS is a quantitative technique that can tell
  you what compounds are present in a substance,
  and the relative amounts of these substances.

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Background Information

• Excedrin and Excedrin PM are both analgesics.
  Analgesics are defined as substances that relieve
  pain. The most common one is aspirin, and
  acetaminophen is the analgesic found in Excedrin
  brands.
• Caffeine is often added to painkillers to
  counteract the sedative effects of the analgesic,
  and the PM medications are assumed to have no
  caffeine.
• Binding materials such as starch,
  microcrystalline cellulose, or silica gel are
  often added.

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Procedure

• First, 1 solutions of Excedrin, Excedrin PM, and
  pure caffeine were made. The solutions were made
  with ethanol.
• The two Excedrin solutions were filtered with a
  Buchner funnel to remove any of the insoluble
  binder.
• Pure ethyl acetate was used as a solvent for the
  chromatogram, and the plate was examined under UV
  light to see the spots.

6

• The next portion of the experiment involved the
  GCMS. 10 microliters of the Excedrin and
  Excedrin PM solutions were placed in the
  chromatogram for evaluation.

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Results

• Both the TLC and the GCMS indicated that there
  was no caffeine present in the Excedrin PM.
  There was caffeine added to the Excedrin.
• The relative amounts of the compounds in
  analgesics were determined by integration of the
  area under the curve of the GCMS results. The
  GCMS results showed that there was three times as
  much caffeine in the ExcedrinPM as in the regular
  Excedrin. There is approximately 3.6 times as
  much acetaminophen as caffeine in the regular
  Excedrin.