Esters

• Esters


  • organic compound which contains the COO functional group, the functional group is known as an ester linkage
  • general formula for ester with one ester linkage is Cn(2n+1)COOCmH(2m+1)
  • n is number of carbon atoms - 1 in carboxylic acid used
  • m is number of carbon atoms in alcohol used
  • first part of name derived from alcohol
  • second part of name derived from carboxylic acid
• Esterification (condensation reaction)


  • Esters are formed by reacting carboxylic acids with alcohols in the presence of concentrated sulfuric acid as a catalyst
  • carboxylic acid + alcohol <-> ester + water
  • the C-O bond in the carboxylic acid and the O-H bond in the alcohol are broken, water is formed from the -OH group of the carboxylic acid and the H atom of the alcohol
  • in large scale production of esters, esters are separated from the reaction mixture through distillation
• Physical Properties

  • volatile (evaporates easily)
  • generally sweet smelling
  • insoluble in water but soluble in organic solvents
  • neutral
  • less dense than water
  • unable to conduct electricity