2) Chemist Juan Don Bigelow works for a pharmaceutical company. He needs to make

Question

2) Chemist Juan Don Bigelow works for a pharmaceutical company. He needs to make multi-kilogram quantities of a small molecule called Blebbitosin that is a potential therapeutic for Machete Fever, a rare tropical disease. However, the last step in the synthesis of Blebbitosin is an equilibrium reaction, and the Keq is only slightly larger than 1. As a result, the final reaction only yields milligram quantities of the product. Fragment A + Fragment B Blebbitosin + H2O How could Juan Don Bigelow more efficiently synthesize the required quantity of Blebbitosin? Frame your answer in terms of topics we’ve recently discussed in class.

Explanation / Answer

Le Chatelier's Principle:

         If a dynamic equilibrium is disturbed by changing the conditions, the position of equilibrium moves to counteract the change.

In this reaction under consideration water is formed as a biproduct along with the desired molecule called Blebbitosin when fragment A and fragment B are mixed together to react. So, if we can remove water from the reaction system then the backward reaction can be stopped to considerable extent and the yield of the reaction would increase.

Now, this can be achieved in two ways:

     i) If the reaction is not sensitive to heat we should keep the reaction temperature above 100 oC so that the water generated can escape the reaction system as soon as it is formed.

    ii) If the reaction is heat sensitive then the removal of water can be accomplished by using a desicating agent like molecular sieves to the reaction medium.

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