Aspirin is widely used since it can provide pain relief, act as a blood thinner, and reduce swelling. So when we had the chance to create it in the lab, I was intrigued to see how we could make something so important in a regular lab setting. Instantly, I felt like we were in Breaking Bad, except we were making a legal wonder drug. Having knowledge sense about the drug’s development history and the catalyst’s purpose allowed me to visualize why certain reactions occurred.

The vinegary vapors of the acetic anhydride was not kind to my nose, but working in the  fume hood prevented us from the exposure of more unfavorable fumes. Now I know why the fume hood got its name. The vacuum pipe suctioning the liquid from the aspirin was very impressive because it was so quick and efficient. I also wondered why the crystals did not dissolve in the water, but it was probably due to the low temperature after placing the flask in the ice bath.

Synthesizing aspirin helped me understand how precisely each step of the methodology must be followed in order to create effective aspirin and why in real drug development, it may take years to create a working drug. Even though we followed the methodology as best as we could, some of us did not produce pure aspirin, but salicylic acid. This implies that if just one step is ignored or not done properly, like not timing how long the flask should be in the beaker on the hotplate, the experiment may give unexpected results. However, since scientific results are shared with others and can be replicated continuously, as shown by this aspirin lab, it is possible to investigate why there is variation in results and how we can adjust it for favorable outcomes if the experiment was performed again.