Esters
2 guided lessons · 18 checks · 4. Organic Chemistry → Esters
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Making esters from alcohols and acids
Alcohols and carboxylic acids join hands in an esterification reaction, releasing water as they bond. The product carries the -COO- link and, for the two smallest partners, the sweet oily liquid called ethyl ethanoate. This lesson draws the functional group and the equation that balances both products.
What you know already
From Reactions of Carboxylic Acids you already know the -COOH group giving salts with metals and carbonates. This note introduces a gentler partner: alcohols, which join the acid directly and build the sweet-smelling ester family used across kitchens and perfume counters.
Key points of understanding
- An alcohol and a carboxylic acid react to make an ester in an esterification reaction.
- Esters carry the functional group R-COO-R between two carbon chains.
- Ethanoic acid with ethanol and a concentrated sulfuric acid catalyst gives ethyl ethanoate.
- The equation reads CH3COOH + C2H5OH giving CH3COOC2H5 + H2O.
- A molecule of water is released as the two reactants join.
Esters are compounds with the functional group R-COO-R
During this esterification reaction, a molecule of water is also produced
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1.Making esters from alcohols and acids
Alcohols and carboxylic acids join hands in an esterification reaction, releasing water as they bond. The product carries the -COO- link and, for the two smallest partners, the sweet oily liquid called ethyl ethanoate. This lesson draws the functional group and the equation that balances both products.
Esters are compounds with the functional group R-COO-R
Guided content from the SME authoring corpus — note rn_BDkhS5vQpRd4hvwf, pinned at 45d591243cae · promoted SyllabAI/syllabai-resources e967e75f1339
