Question 1

Carbamates are a class of insecticides which act by inhibiting the enzyme acetylcholinesterase in the insect, causing death. Carbamyl (1), is specifically active against bees. In mammals, carbamyl (1) is metabolized to the phenolic derivative (2). If you have a dichloromethane solution containing carbamyl (1) and its phenolic metabolite (2), how would you separate compound (1) from compound (2)?


Carbamyl (1) Phenolic Metabolite (2)
  1. Filter the dichloromethane solution.
  2. Extract the dichloromethane solution with 1MNaOH.
  3. Extract the dichloromethane solution with 1MNaHCO3.
  4. Extract the dichloromethane solution with 1MHCl.
Organic Web Chem University of Alberta