(5 pts.) Why is Sodium Carbonate added to the tea before the transfer to the methylene chloride phase?
Consider the solubility of the product in water/organic phase mixture. The natural byproducts are either acidic and basic. The complications incurred from omission of this important step - consider chemical reason!
to convert the tannic acids in tea to salt by deprotonation.
to protonate the Methylene Chloride
to convert Caffeine to a salt
to protonate the alkaloids to form a salts
To remove a proton from the basic flavonoids
To facilitate better sublimation
To improve water removal by anhydrous $Na_2SO_4$.