Isolation and synthesis of curcumin

Abstract: The aim of this thesis was to evaluate pre-existing methods for isolation and synthesis of curcumin. Two different isolation methods were used, where only the extraction step differs from each other. To obtain pure curcumin, column chromatography was needed to separate the compound from its analogues. As for the isolation the synthesis was also carried out by two different methods, the first in a conventional way and the second one by using irradiation of microwaves. The result of the experiments shows that by comparing the effectiveness and expense of the methods, the synthesis would probably be the easiest way of obtaining pure compound. Because of the more straightforward method, without cumbersome separation steps from the curcumin analogues, the synthesis was a faster way of obtaining the compound and gave more pure curcumin than the isolation procedures from turmeric.