Aspirin can be made in the laboratory by reacting acetic anhydride (c4h6o3) with salicylic acid (c7h6o3) to form aspirin (c9h8o4
) and acetic acid (c2h4o2). the balanced equation is: c4h6o3+c7h6o3→c9h8o4+c2h4o2.in a laboratory synthesis, a student begins with 5.00 ml of acetic anhydride (density = 1.08 g / ml) and 2.08 g of salicylic acid. once the reaction is complete, the student collects 2.57 g of aspirin.