Group Members

1) Teoh Yun (S202)

2) Denise Lim (S204)

3) Fatin Zafirah (S204)

4) Tan Hao Ming (S206)

Overview of the project

In this project, students would learn how to extract caffeine (C8H10N4O2) from beverages which is an example of a type of organic weak base called an alkaloid which means ‘alkali-like’. Caffeine is a stimulant found naturally in tea, coffee and kola nuts. Other examples of alkaloids include cocaine (a drug of abuse), strychnine (a poison), morphine (a pain killer), piperine (found in black pepper) and quinine (used to treat malaria and added to tonic). Based on the examples given above, it can be deduced that alkaloids can be beneficial and harmful to others.

Our Mission

The main objective that our group needs to accomplish at the end of the workshop is to learn the procedures and techniques of caffeine extraction and the concepts behind these techniques. With the knowledge of caffeine extraction, students will be able to determine if caffeine is present in different beverages and investigate if these caffeine are beneficial or harmful.

Questions from project manual

1) Now you have extracted caffeine what techniques can you use to characterize your compound and make sure you have caffeine?

2) How would you prepare decaffeinated coffee that is fit to drink?

Our Accomplishment

1) What is the end product/ findings?

2) A description/ explanation of your product/ findings

Our Gains

As a group,

1) Discuss how the project has helped to deepen your understanding/ broaden your awareness on selected subject discipline(s)

2) Describe how the new learning is/ can be connected to what you learnt/ are going to learn