Resumen de The Extraction of Caffeine from Tea:: An Old Undergraduate Experiment Revisited

Scott D. Murray, Peter J. Hansen

• The extraction of caffeine from tea leaves is a common organic chemistry experiment. A water/1-propanol/sodium chloride ternary system was found to be a suitable replacement for the more traditional water/organochlorine solvent systems. Approximately 80% of the caffeine in the tea leaves can be recovered as crude caffeine. The ternary system employs chemicals which are not only less expensive, but also less toxic.