Ethyl Ethanoate Lab

Ethyl ethanoate (commonly known as ethyl acetate) is an ester, which is an organic compound that is produced by the reaction between an organic acid (acetic acid) and an alcohol (ethanol). This ester is probably the most commonly known and used. Ethyl acetate’s uses include being an artificial flavor or smell, being a solvent in procedures such as decaffeinating tea, and it is also used in nail polish removers and cigarettes. In this lab, ethyl acetate is formed by a process called distillation. The theoretical yield for this experiment is 15 g of ethyl acetate. To come up with the theoretical yield, I found the number of moles for each of the reactants, acetic acid (.2088 mol) and ethyl alcohol (.172 mol). Since ethyl alcohol is the limiting …show more content…
It is important to be cautious of some of the chemicals used in this lab. Sulfuric acid is extremely corrosive to all tissue and should be handled in a fume hood. Ethyl alcohol, ethyl acetate, and acetic acid are all fire hazards, and ethyl acetate is toxic and an irritant. Proper lab safety attire should be worn at all times during this lab. There are four parts to this experiment; preparation, isolation, purification and identification, respectfully. In the first part, I mixed the reactants (10 mL ethyl alcohol and 12 mL acetic acid) with a catalyst (15 drops sulfuric acid) in the round-bottom flask, along with a boiling stone. Then, my lab partner put the 600-mL beaker, filled with about 450 mL of water, on the hot plate and arranged for the flask containing the reactants to be placed in the beaker where the water is higher than the reaction mixture. I attached plastic tubing to the inlet and outlet of the condenser, and attached the condenser to the flask, with the condenser in a vertical …show more content…
Since we know that the boiling point of ethyl acetate is 77 ºC, then our boiling point should be in that range. The mass helps us to figure the percent yield and to compare our outcome with our hypothesis.
Discussion and Error Analysis The amount of ethyl acetate my lab partner and I prepared differed greatly from the 15 g of ethyl acetate that was hypothesized to have formed. With 8.06 g of ethyl acetate as an actual yield, our percent yield ended up being 53.7%, which is not that high of a percentage. This could be due to many errors that may have been encountered during the lab. One possible error that could have occurred is the initial reaction between ethyl alcohol and acetic acid not going to completion. This would mean that the maximum amount of ethyl acetate did not form, therefore lowering the possible amount that could be prepared by us. Supposedly we could force the reaction to go to completion, but this would require different amounts of some of the chemicals used in the lab. Another potential error may have occurred during transferring the mixtures from the separatory funnel to the round-bottom flask after the reaction, or during any other transfers between containers. It is fairly complicated to actually get every drop of the mixtures to transfer from one container to another,

Show More

Thymol Blue And Ethanoate Lab Report

Lab 12 Reaction Lab

Ethyl Ethanoate Lab

Related Documents: Ethyl Ethanoate Lab

Thymol Blue And Ethanoate Lab Report

Lab 12 Reaction Lab