Esters of acetic acid

Principle

The ester condensation, as it was previously called, takes place according to the type of an acid-catalyzed nucleophilic substitution. We are dealing here with an equilibrium reaction, for which the yield of ester is about 60% under the experimental conditions used.

The experiment is particularly suited for work in groups. The following experiment "Esters of various carboxylic acids" (P7173200) can be included with it, allowing four esters to be examined. The preparation of other esters under the same experimental conditions is also possible.

Learning objectives

• Carboxylic acids undergo an acid-catalyzed reaction with alcohols under the formation of esters.
• Esters are distinguished by an intensive fruity smell.

Benefits

• Easy teaching and efficient learning by using interactive experimentation PHYWE-Software
• Experiment is part of a complete solution set with experiments for the topic Organic Chemistry matched with international curriculum: all topics are covered