How To Isolate Splenda

Millions of people enjoy the fake sweetener in the little yellow package every day.

What they may not know is that the sweetening agent is only a minor component of what's in the packet. Would you like to get your hands on some pure, uncut sucralose? I know that I would.

Now, before you ask, you don't need fancy equipment or laboratory conditions to do this. If, however, you are like me - a grad student with some time to kill on the weekend - it sure doesn't hurt.

Step 1: Educate!

The active ingredient in Splenda, sucralose, is closely related to sucrose. In a five-step synthesis, three positions on the sugar are chlorinated, which renders it both indigestible and intensely sweet.

Like, 600 times sweeter than sugar.

So, if you got a sugar-sized packet of pure sucralose, your iced tea would taste like rock candy. So, Splenda actually contains mostly flavorless maltodextrin.

But how do we separate the sucralose from the maltodextrin?

Well, the chlorine atoms make sucralose much more hydrophobic (oil-liking) than an ordinary sugar like maltodextrin. So, by using a nonpolar solvent like acetone or isopropanol the sucralose can be dissolved and the maltodextrin filtered off.

For you organic chemistry fans out there, I've included the synthesis below.

Comments

[ALogan97]

As an alternate method (because this utterly refuses to work for me), could one use steam distillation? It apparently works for essential oil production, but would the sucralose be too heavy for the steam to carry? Or would the distillate still contain maltodextrin? I doubt that the steam distillation process would work for this, but I'm unsure, so I shall ask your opinions on it.

[Mongpoovian]

Steam distillation is ideal for separating an immiscible mixture of two liquids, which is why it works so well for essential oil distillation. I don't think you'd get a measurable amount of sucralose out of a steam distillation.

And to your other comment - you could probably burn of the alcohol to speed recovery. Just be careful to avoid scorching!

[ALogan97]

If we use isopropanol, could we burn it off to speed up the evaporation process, or would this negatively affect the resulting sucralose?

[aakemp123]

If something is hydrophobic, that doesn't necessarily mean it likes oil, it means the substance doesn't like water. Acetone is a polar substance and wouldn't work in this experiment the same way isopropanol would. Good idea for an experiment though!

[rhangatoby]

wait, if we shouldnt eat it if we used acetone, then why use acetone?

[sijmad]

Is acetone is a "non polar" solvent? That is strange!!

[Mongpoovian]

Well, it's non-polar compared to water. In the total spectrum of solvents it would be considered closer to the polar end, but you can't buy ether or benzene at the hardware store.

[DeusXMachina]

Sure you can! Ether comes in the aerosol engine starter fluid cans. And while you can't find benzene, you can use toluene or xylene, which are effectively the same in terms of hydrophobic properties.

[Arano]

you should not use benzene, as it causes cancer. toluene is does not (or at least there is no proof it does).

[Mongpoovian]

I'm not sure if toluene or benzene would work as well, they might be too far into nonpolar territory to really dissolve the sucralose. Plus, the boiling point of toluene is prohibitively high, so it would take days to remove all the solvent residue from your product.

Looking into the patents for sucralose, it looks like ethyl acetate is the solvent of choice for dissolution or extraction - now all we have to do is find a way to purify it from nail polish remover...

[Arano]

boilingpoint does not matter very much... its more about vapor pressure... and for your acethone its about a quarter atm at 20°C so all your acethone will vaporise very quick, as long as the acethone-vapor has no partial pressure of a quarter atm.

[ArcticLiz]

Hey! uhm.. I gotta question.. you still remember how much acethone you used?? Thanks! :D

[Mongpoovian]

I think I used two 40-50 ml portions of solvent. It was a while ago, though...

[ArcticLiz]

oh.. I guess it will be useful.. thanks! :D

[Mongpoovian]

What sort of isolation do you need to do?

[ArcticLiz]

isolate the sucralose from Splenda (:

[ArcticLiz]

Hey! Thanks so much! Believe it or not I NEEDED some sort of isolation like this one for my chem class.. :D thanks sooo much!

[Mongpoovian]

Glad it could help!

[REA]

what could the sucralose be used for once isolated?

[Mongpoovian]

I'm still working on that one...

[REA]

perhaps its flamable? or explosive?or can react with stable molecules to make them radioactive?

[Pie Ninja]

Instead of Everclear would it be possible to use pure ethanol?

[delphinkid]

Everclear is essentially just ethanol in itself, so pure ethanol would work.

[Pie Ninja]

sweeeeet. (quite literally, actually :P)

[montdor1]

Kitchen chemistry heaven. My question, and I mean this deeply and only in the spirit of information, is if there are any psychoactive properties to pure sucralose. And what are some uses for it? Is it a precursor to anything worthwhile, whatever that means?

[delphinkid]

No, sucralose is basically ordinary household sugar but with a few substituted chlorine atoms. If you could convert it back to sucrose or another sugar I suppose you could use it to make ethanol, but that would be a really inefficient way of doing it.

[Koolraap]

What is everclear composed of ? i live in Holland and I'm pretty sure they don't have that brand over here :}

[Mongpoovian]

Here in the US, at least, it's more commonly known as grain alcohol - look for 95% (or 190 proof) on the label.

[marine12320]

isopropanol is just isopropyl alchohol right? also, if i have like 90% Isopropyl alchohol, is it safe to taste a tiny bit of the sucralose?

[Mongpoovian]

Yeah, isopropanol is the same as isopropyl alcohol. People can tolerate isopropanol in small amounts pretty well, so a little taste won't hurt you. If you're worried about the alcohol, just let the solid sit in a warm place until you can't smell the alcohol anymore - most people can smell it at about 22 parts per million, which means that if you can't smell it on the solid, it isn't a threat.

[dniloc2cv]

Not completely sure but USA plant is about 50 miles from me an I think one of the primary ingredients is Clorine...some such HazMat.

[whorger]

There is an acetone that is supposed to be as free of contaminants as possible. It's called "optics grade" acetone, and is used in the final cleaning process for the highest quality optical mirrors.

Still, having any thing in my mouth that once came in contact with acetone makes me shiver!

Give me sodium hydroxide (lye) anytime: re: ludafisk.

[lobo_pal]

I like your rhyming steps, it makes science seem cool. Yes I do realize how geeky that sounded.

[Mongpoovian]

I try my best. :)

[lobo_pal]

Is it save to eat, or will the sweetness make your toungh explode or something?

[Mongpoovian]

As long as you use a non-toxic solvent, it's perfectly safe to eat.

[AZsid]

So, if you use Everclear and don't evaporate it off you would be left with a super sweetened mixer?

[Mongpoovian]

I think you would indeed.

[Father Christmas]

hmm. i might suggest this to my Chem teacher this year. I took the same class last year, but i needed another credit so it took it anyway. this could prove very entertaining...

[Harryone]

You might try the local medium-box drug store for 70% ethyl alcohol. It has a trace of acetone (for the taste), but it's clean enough, and the acetone leaves soon enough. Getcher Splenda by the pound cheaply at WalMart or the moral equivalent (made in China, so you know it's... interesting.)