Acetylsalicylic is readily available in Aspirin tablets. Chemically, it is a useful molecule. It can be converted to salicylic acid and then phenol, which is an extremely useful precursor. Also, the salicylic acid itself can be used to make the minty smelling wintergreen.

All in all, acetylsalicylic acid is a quite desirable chemical. However, before it can be used in any reaction, it must first be separated from the Aspirin pills, which contains binders and fillers. In this video, I will outline one method of separating the acetylsalicylic acid (also referred to as ASA) from pills.

The final yield of ASA from 500 325mg tablets was 152g (or about 94%).

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