Work-up

In chemistry, work-up refers to the series of manipulations required to isolate and purify the product(s) of a chemical reaction.^[1] The term is used colloquially to refer to these manipulations, which may include:

deactivating any unreacted reagents by quenching a reaction.
cooling the reaction mixture or adding an antisolvent to induce precipitation, and collecting or removing the solids by filtration, decantation, or centrifugation.
changing the protonation state of the products or impurities by adding an acid or base.
separating the reaction mixture into organic and aqueous layers by liquid-liquid extraction.
removal of solvents by evaporation.
purification by chromatography, distillation or recrystallization.

The work-up steps required for a given chemical reaction may require one or more of these manipulations. Work-up steps are not always explicitly shown in reaction schemes. Written experimental procedures will describe work-up steps but will usually not formally refer to them as a work-up.

^ Stevenson, Angus; Lindberg, Christine A., eds. (2010). "Workup". New Oxford American Dictionary (3rd ed.). Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780199891535.

[1] Stevenson, Angus; Lindberg, Christine A., eds. (2010). "Workup". New Oxford American Dictionary (3rd ed.). Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780199891535.

[1]