CH3520: Heat and Mass Transfer Laboratory-1

3. HYDROTROPY

Name Roll Number

Sai Krishna Narasa
CH16B105
A. Siddharth
CH16B106

Chankane Mangesh Rajendra CH16B109

Mohd Faisal
CH16B110

AIM
To enhance the solubility of benzyl acetate in water using urea as a hydrotrope.

THEORY
Introduction
Hydrotropy or hydrotropic action is the property of certain substances to make water insoluble substances
soluble in water. It was first reported by Neuberg that the solubility of hydrophobic molecules could be
enhanced substantially by addition of some organic salts.
While the origin of such action is not definitely known, recent studies suggest that once the hydrotrope
concentration passes the minimum hydrotrope concentration limit, which is when the hydrotropic action
comes into picture. The hydrotrope begins forming aggregates with the hydrophobic ends facing inwards
and hydrophilic ends facing the water medium. This creates a hydrophobic environment for the insoluble
chemical to be encapsulated into.
Sodium salicylate, sodium benzoate, urea, nicotinamide, sodium citrate and sodium acetate are the most
common examples of hydrotropic agents utilized to increase the water solubility of drugs. This is important
since several modern manufactured drugs are insoluble in water and drug delivery is carried out by means of
transport in fluid channels. So it is important to ensure their solubility in such media. This is achieved by
means of using non-toxic organic solvents as mentioned above.
Relevance: In our experiment, we observe the hydrotropic effect of urea in order to dissolve benzyl acetate,
which is otherwise insoluble in water.

Applications of Hydrotropy
1. Hydrotropic action is of great physiological significance. Several chemicals in the body are kept in
solution due to hydrotropic action. Example: In bile solution, cholesterol and other compounds are kept
in solution with the help of bile salts. [1]
2. They are extensively used in detergent industries, or as solubilizing agents to solubilize drugs,
biochemicals, and organic compounds.
As hydrotropes possess some catalytic properties, they can be used to execute organic synthetic reactions.
Note: We neglect possible disturbances in absorbance values due to the sample confinement.

BEER LAMBERTS LAW

This law helps in relating absorption and concentration of chemicals in a sample.
Derivation:
Po represents the intensity of light falling on the cuvette containing the sample to be analyzed.
Pt represents the intensity of the transmitted light.
x represents a small section of the sample being considered.
P represents the intensity to which the incoming radiation has been reduced at the beginning of the section
being considered.
P represents the change in intensity in the interval x.
n represents the number of absorbers.

The fractional change can be mathematically expressed as follows:

Integrating along the entire length of path (b) travelled in the sample:

Absorbance (A) is then defined as follows:

Note: Absorbance values are unit-less.

Thus, the Beer Lambert Law is given by:

As we can see, it gives a linear relation between absorbance and concentration.

Relevance: We shall use the concept governing Beer Lamberts Law in this experiment to obtain the
concentration of benzyl acetate that can be dissolved in a 2M solution of urea.

UV-SPECTROSCOPY
UV spectroscopy is type of absorption spectroscopy in which light of ultra-violet region (200-400 nm.) is
absorbed by the molecule. Absorption of the ultra-violet radiations results in the excitation of the electrons
from the ground state to higher energy state. The energy of the ultra-violet radiation that are absorbed is
equal to the energy difference between the ground state and higher energy states
Principle:
UV spectroscopy obeys the Beer-Lambert law. From the Beer-Lambert law it is clear that greater the number
of molecules capable of absorbing light of a given wavelength, the greater the extent of light absorption.
This is the basic principle of UV spectroscopy.
Relevance: We make use of a UV Spectrometer device to obtain the absorbance values for benzyl acetate in
the solution of urea, water and benzyl acetate (to know how much benzyl acetate has been dissolved)

PROCEDURE
Materials Required
Separator funnel
1000 ml beaker
4x 50 ml beakers
5x cuvettes
Spatula
Electronic Weighing Machine
Stand
Stop cork
Micro-litre Pipette

Chemicals Required
Urea Powder
Benzyl acetate solution
Distilled water
Steps to follow:
1. Prepare 500 ml of 2M Urea solution in a beaker.

2. Prepare 40 ml solutions of Benzyl Acetate in the prepared Urea solution for concentrations (mol/L) of:
0.0025, 0.005, 0.0075, 0.01, in beakers.

3. Add 100 mL distilled water and unknown quantity of Benzyl Acetate (BA) in a separation funnel.
4. Solubilising the Benzyl Acetate (BA) solution in the separation funnel:
20 ml of the prepared 2M urea solution is added to the separation funnel, followed by subsequent
smaller additions. After every addition, the solution in the separation funnel is shaken, to ensure proper
mixing of the solution. This is repeated till the tiny bubbles of benzyl acetate disappear, giving rise to a
clear solution.

FIGURE 1 Setup for the separator funnel containing 2M Urea solution, distilled water and benzyl acetate.

5. Obtaining the calibration curve using UV spectroscopy device:

a. The four solutions of benzyl acetate prepared are used for obtaining the calibration graph from
which the concentration of the benzyl acetate solution in the separating funnel will be evaluated.

b. Take these solutions in a cuvette and place them in the spectroscopy device for analysis.

c. Note the absorbance at the peak which in indicative of benzyl acetate.

6. From the absorbance values, plot a graph between concentration of benzyl acetate solution and
absorbance. Use this to find the concentration of the solution obtained in the separating funnel.

7. This concentration value will give us a feel for the amount of urea required to dissolve a given amount
of benzyl acetate in water.

PRECAUTIONS
1. Make use of gloves while handling the chemicals.
2. Be careful to keep the separator funnel tightly sealed while shaking its contents.

3. While measuring absorbance, wash the cuvette twice.

4. Handle the cuvette by avoiding any touch on the sides through which the light radiation passes.

5. Do not press the micro-litre pipette too hard while measuring the required amounts of benzyl acetate as
this can lead to excess intake of the chemical.

6. Adjust the micro-litre pipette to the precise value. Take round-off values if required.

EXPERIMENTAL DATA
For preparation of 40ml solutions of benzyl acetate of various concentrations
S.No. Concentratio Weight of benzyl Volume of benzyl
n acetate required acetate required (ml)
(mol/L) (g)

1 0.0025 0.015 0.0143

2 0.0050 0.030 0.0286

3 0.0075 0.045 0.0429

4 0.0100 0.060 0.0572

TABLE 1

Volume of 2M Urea solution added to sample in separation funnel:

(25+20+20+20+20+20+20+20+10+10+25) = 210 ml

SAMPLE CALCULATIONS
a. For preparation of 2M Urea solution
Molecular weight of Urea = 60.06 g/mol (given)
Volume of Urea solution required = 500 ml
Weight of Urea required = 2 mol/L * (500/1000) L * 60.06 g/mol = 60.06 g
b. For preparation of standard Benzyl Acetate solutions in 2M Urea solution (for calibration
purposes)
Concentration of Benzyl Acetate solution required = 0.0025 mol/L
Volume of solution to be prepared = 40 ml
Molecular weight of Benzyl Acetate = 150.18 g/mol (given)
Weight of Benzyl Acetate required = 0.0025 mol/L * (40/1000) L * 150.18 g/mol = 0.015 g
Density of Benzyl Acetate = 1.05 g/cm3 (given)
3
Volume of Benzyl Acetate required = 0.015 g / 1.05 g/cm = 0.0143 ml
Similarly, we calculate volume of Benzyl Acetate required for concentrations of 0.005 mol/L, 0.0075 mol/L
& 0.01 mol/L.

RESULTS & DISCUSSION

 Volume(L) Conc. of Benzyl Absorbance
Acetate (mol/L)
0 0 0
15 0.002621854 0.578
30 0.005243708 1.106
45 0.007865561 1.526
60 0.010487415 2.149
0.005621797 1.141
TABLE 2

Absorbance vs Concentration
2.5

2 f(x) = 202.96x
R = 1
Absorbance

1.5

0.5

0
0 0 0 0.01 0.01 0.01 0.01
Concentration (M)

FIGURE 2- Above image shows that absorption vs Concentration curve is straight line.

FIG 3 This image shows the absorbance peak at around 256 nm for the benzyl acetate, water and urea
system.
A calibration plot using the four samples of benzyl acetate solutions prepared is used to determine the
concentration of benzyl acetate in the solution prepared in the separating funnel.
We fit a linear curve to the calibration points plotted and use this to determine the required concentration.
The fitted equation is given by: y = 202.96x

SUGGESTIONS FOR IMPROVEMENT

According to literature, the solubility of benzyl acetate in water can be improved by use of other organic
solvents such as citric acid. [7]
Working at higher temperatures would allow for more solubility, hence bring the experiment to
completion faster.

SOURCES OF ERROR

Exposure of Urea Powder for long time can absorb water vapour present in air.

Very small-sized invisible bubbles might have present in the solution which can affect the final
reading.
We might have added large volume of urea solution in the last sample.
Because of continuous usage of cuvette, it might not be completely transparent.
While cleaning, some piece of tissue paper might be remained inside the beaker, separator funnel and
other container.
Fingerprints or dirt on the transparent side of cuvette.
.
CONCLUSION
The method of using hydrotropes to improve solubility of certain chemicals in water is clearly possible and
can be achieved to varying degrees based on requirements.
This has great scope and applications in industry and medical advancements as well.

REFERENCES
Guide to Bio-chemistry, Rashmi A. Joshi, Victor Marks (2004) p.23

Mechanism of Hydrotropic Action of Hydrotrope Sodium Cumene Sulfonate on the Solubility of Di-t-
Butyl-Methane: A Molecular Dynamics Simulation Study, Shubhadip Das and Sandip Paul, Department
of Chemistry, Indian Institute of Technology, Guwahati
Neuberg, C. U ber Hydrotropic. Biochem. Z. 1916, 76, 107176.
Mixed Hydrotropy Solubilization Approach for Quantitative Estimation of Eprosartan Mesylate and
Hydrochlorthiazide by UV Spectrophotometer, Ruchi Jain*, Vinod Sahu, Nilesh Jain and Surendra Jain
Sagar Institute of Research & Technology-Pharmacy, Madhya Pradesh
Organic Spectroscopy, Lal Dhar Singh Yadav p.7
Atomic and Molecular Spectroscopy: Basic Aspects and Practical Applications, Sune Svanberg p.149-
150
Solubility and Mass Transfer Coefficient Enhancement of Benzyl Acetate in Water through Hydrotropy,
N. Meyyappan and N. Nagendra Gandhi J. Chem. Eng. Data 2004, 49, 1290-1294