Resumen de Detection of Salicylic Acid in Willow Bark: An Addition to a Classic Series of Experiments in the Introductory Organic Chemistry Laboratory

Matthew D. Clay, Eric J. McLeod

• Salicylic acid and its derivative, acetylsalicylic acid, are often encountered in introductory organic chemistry experiments, and mention is often made that salicylic acid was originally isolated from the bark of the willow tree. This biological connection, however, is typically not further pursued, leaving students with an impression that biology and chemistry are separate entities in the laboratory. We have developed a laboratory that investigates this biological connection in which salicylic acid is extracted from willow bark and detected using thin-layer chromatography. This experiment can be adopted as either a standalone experiment or integrated into other laboratory courses with current experiments involving salicylic acid.