Synthesis of Acetylsalicylic Acid – An Environmentally Friendly Approach

Abstract

Background: The aim of this study was to compare the yields of acetylsalicylic acid synthesis based on the traditional approach and the green chemistry approach. Green chemistry is one of the most important approaches in pharmaceutical sustainability. The reagents used for acetylsalicylic acid synthesis can be environmentally harmful, so there is a need for a better and safer alternative.

Methods: We conducted five syntheses based on the traditional approach and five syntheses based on the green chemistry approach. The synthesis process was identical except for one element – traditional synthesis uses sulfuric acid and green chemistry synthesis uses phosphoric acid. After synthesis, the theoretical and experimental yields were calculated. The obtained products were tested using high-performance liquid chromatography.

Main findings: The theoretical yield of acetylsalicylic acid in both reactions was determined as 3.896 g. Traditional synthesis gave us a mean yield of 3.113 g (79.8%). Green chemistry synthesis gave us a mean yield of 3.104 g (79.4%). The quality of both products was confirmed by the above-mentioned chromatography method. There was no statistically significant difference between the means of the product masses (p=0.8220).

Principal conclusions: Phosphoric acid can be used as a safe alternative to acetylsalicylic acid synthesis instead of sulfuric acid. As phosphoric acid is much safer than sulfuric acid in terms of environmental impact, these findings can be used in a pharmaceutical industry setting to obtain a better, cleaner, and safer alternative to acetylsalicylic acid synthesis.