Column Chromatography: The Separation of Ferrocene and Acetyl Ferrocene

Introduction: In this lab, we learned about column chromatography. Column chromatography is usually used when we want to purify individual compounds from mixtures and it also prevents cross contamination. Also, in our lab report it stated that scientists used column chromatography for solids or high-boiling liquids. The compounds that we separated were ferrrocene and acetyl ferrocene and we tried to separate them from a mixture. Ferrocene and acetyl ferrocene are both complexes of an iron(II) cation and two aromatic, organic anions. We also learned about TLC, or thin layer chromatography, this technique is used to separate non-volatile mixtures. Experiment: Instructor will give partners an unknown mixture of ferrocene and acetyl ferrocene Prepare a semimicroscale column Use petroleum ether (30-40mL) as the solvent and put it in the column Add about 4.5g of powdered adsorbent; a little at a time. Add about 1cm of sand to the top of the column Begin elution Drain the petroleum ether until it is level with the top of the alumina Add the weighed solid sample directly to the top of the column. Rinse with CH2Cl2 if needed. Repeat the rinse until all the colored material has been drained onto the alumina. Collect all the yellow material in a 50mL erlenmeyer flask with a chip to cover it. To the acetyl ferrocene add a 50/50 mixture of petroleum ether and diethyl to the column. Collect the liquid in a 50mL flask cover it with a chip Continue elution until the orange band is completely washed from the cloumn Using ferrocene and acetyl ferrocene, spot a TLC plate (1cm) from the bottom with each solution. Use capillary to put dots on TLC strips Put TLC strips in a jar of ethanol/toluene. Take a picture/record oberservation Put TLC strip into iodine chamber and calculate RF value. Put in rotary machine collect the solid and record.

Result/Data: While we were doing the experiment we used about 4.511 grams of alumina basic and 30-40 mL of petroleum ether to fill the column. The unknown`s number that the instructor gave us was 5.39. We got sand and estimated how much we needed and filled the column after putting in the

petroleum ether and alumina. The flask that we used weighed about 35.79 grams and the round bottom flask which had ferrocene and acetyl ferrocene weighed about 31.331 and 32.840 respectively. In the cloumns we put petroleum ether in the ferrocene and the 50/50 mixture in the acetyl ferrocene because it is more polar. The Ferrocene turned a light orange when we put in the petroleum ether and the acetyl ferrocene turned a dark orange when we put in the 50/50 mixture. The colors were difference because we believe that because 50/50 is more polar the color came out darker. The amount that we collected at the end after the rotary was 1.0598 grams of ferrocene and 1.232 grams of acetyl ferrocene. Discussion of Results: In column chromatography the mobile phase is liquid and the stationary phase is solid. The liquid that we collected after the elution weighed for ferrocene was 4.3975 and for acetyl ferrocene was 4.3975. We then used to rotary machine, which is a efficient removal of solvents from samples by evaporation. After the rotary machine we weighed the solid that was left over and we ended up with 1.0598 for ferrocene and 1.232 for acetyl ferrocene. We were then asked to calculate the RF, the formula to calculate this is: Rf=distance spot moved/distance solvent moved. For Ferrocene there was no orange spot, but there was a green spot towards the top of the strip. For acetyl ferrocene there was a orange spot in the middle of the strip and a very light green spot towards the top. The Rf value for the green spot in F is: .8mm. The Rf value for the orange spot in Co is .4 and the green spot .8mm. The Rf spot for the orange/green spot for AF is .4 and .88mm respectively. From this we can conclude that acetyl ferrocene is very polar.

Conclusion: In conclusion, the unknown`s number we had was 5.39 and we concluded that acetyl ferrocene is polar and that is why it has both the orange and green spots. Ferrocene is as non-polar therefore it had only a green spot and not an orange one. The mobile phase is liquid and for ferrocene we had 4.3975 and for acetyl ferrocene is 2.9385. The stationary phase is solid and we had 1.0598 for ferrocene and for acetyl ferrocene we had 1.232. The next step was to find out the melting

point range for our solid and we ended up with 164-169 for ferrocene and 73-77 for acetyl ferrocene. In the end, we decided that methylene chloride helped the process of separating ferrocene and acetyl ferrocene. Lab References: Chemistry 234 Lab Manual San Francisco State University

Methylene Chloride

Alumina

Ferrocene

Petroleum ether

Acetyl Ferrocene