Science Buddies: "Ask an Expert"

Hello, everyone.
I am looking for a way to extract caffeine from energy drinks. It is difficult to find ways unlike finding those of tea leaves and coffee.
Please, help.

Thank you.

Hi,

Are you more interested in 1) measuring the amount of caffeine in a drink, or 2) creating a decaffeinated version of an existing energy drink?

If you are interested in 1) measuring the amount of caffeine in a drink, existing caffeine measurement methods for tea/coffee will likely work the same. https://chem.libretexts.org/Bookshelves ... xperiment) seems like a good start. Be sure to use a fume hood and proper protective equipment. For your reference, here is the MSDS for methylene chloride (one of the solvents used, which is hazardous): https://www.fishersci.com/msdsproxy%3Fp ... oductDescr

If you are trying to 2) create a decaffeinated version of an existing energy drink, this will be much more difficult. In tea leaves and coffee beans, caffeine is removed using supercritical (high-temp, high-temperature) CO2 to dissolve caffeine, before the drink is actually made. If you're working with the finished-drink already, the method for 1) would leave your drink toxic. You'll have to find an existing decaf version, or perhaps water would be a good alternative

Hope that helps. Let us know if you have additional questions.

Best,
Renee and Charles