Fisher Esterification: What Is An Ester?

Flavor is used to describe the taste and smell of a substance. There are many functional groups that are found in flavors to provide different tastes and smells. The functional group ester is a commonly used functional group in different flavors. Isopentyl acetate is an ester that is often used in common fruity flavorings such as banana and fantasy fruit flavorings. Benzyl acetate is another ester commonly used for peach and strawberry flavoring. Artificial flavors are often created to imitate the flavor of the real product. However, it is often difficult to recreate an artificial flavor that tastes exactly like the real product. Fisher esterification is the process where carboxylic acid and an alcohol are used in combination with a strong acid catalyst to create an ester. Because the esterification reaction is reversible, it is necessary to exploit Le Châteliers principle to drive the reaction to completion. The mechanism of the esterification occurs first by the protonation of the carbonyl by the acid. Next, nucleophilic attack by the alcohol occurs on the carbonyl. Proton transfer from the alcohol to the adjacent oxygen occurs. This causes the oxygen to become unstable with a (+) charge, thus the H2O breaks off from the intermediate. The oxygen double bond left on …show more content…
This resulted in the creation of an aqueous layer which was drained from the organic layer. 5% sodium bicarbonate was slowly added to the mixture, shaken gently, and continuously vented until all of the by-product, CO2, was released. Then, the mixture was allowed to separate for two minutes before draining the clear aqueous layer. This procedure with 5% sodium bicarbonate was then repeated a second time, and the aqueous layer was drained. The crude isopentyl alcohol was placed in a 125 mL Erlenmeyer flask. Then, the crude isopentyl acetate was dried with the addition of sodium sulfate (3 scoops). A separate layer resulted and was drained from the organic

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