Ester Synthesis Lab Report

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The goal of this experiment was to synthesize the unknown ester through Fischer Esterification. This procedure involves treating a carboxylic acid with an alcohol and a strong acid catalyst. This procedure was also catalyzed with heat at 160oC-180oC, to keep the temperature from exceeding the boiling points of the compounds in use. The acid catalyst protonated the double bonded oxygen atom to force the atom to pull two electrons away from the double bond in order to stabilize the atom’s charge. As this electron shift occurred, the alcohol attacked the carbocation that lost its double bond. The acid catalyst then deprotonates the alcohol so it could retain its neutral charge and then the acid protonates the other hydroxide group, to produce H2O which separates from the main compound to stabilize its own charge and then carbocation rearrangement occurs to form a pi bond. …show more content…

The acid catalyst then deprotonates the final hydroxide group that donated two electrons during the rearrangement in order to stabilize the compound once again, hereby ending with the synthesis of the ester with an excess of

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