SolutionsEsters
1. Everyday esters
Give the acid and the alcohol from which each ester formally derives: a) ethyl acetate; b) isoamyl acetate (banana flavour); c) methyl salicylate.
- Acetic acid and ethanol.
- Acetic acid and 3-methyl-1-butanol (isoamyl alcohol).
- Salicylic (2-hydroxybenzoic) acid and methanol.
2. Esters and acids
Why does methyl acetate (mass 74) boil at 57 °C while propanoic acid, of the same mass, boils at 141 °C?
Esters have no hydrogens bonded to oxygen and do not form hydrogen bonds between their molecules; the acid forms very stable dimers held by two hydrogen bonds.