Question

7. i.
Distinguish between esterification and
Saponification reactions of organic compounds.
With a labelled diagram describe an activity to
show the formation of an ester.
i.​

Answer 1

Esters are most commonly formed by reaction of an acid and an alcohol. Ethanoic acid reacts with absolute ethanol in the presence of an acid catalyst to give an ester –

R’OH + RCOOH → RCOOR’ + H2O

CH3CH2OH + CH3COOH → CH3COOC2H5 + H2O

Esters are sweet-smelling substances.

Esters react in the presence of an acid or a base to give back the alcohol and carboxylic acid. This reaction is known as saponification because it is used in the preparation of soap -

RCOOR’ + NaOH → RCOONa + R’OH

CH3COOC2H5 + NaOH → CH3COONa + C2H5OH

Esters can be formed by :-

Take 1 mL ethanol (absolute alcohol) and 1 mL glacial acetic acid along with a few drops of concentrated sulphuric acid in a test tube.

Warm in a water-bath for at least five minutes as shown in Fig. 4.11.

Pour into a beaker containing 20-50 mL of water and smell the resulting mixture.

These lines have been taken from NCERT class 10 textbook

Sincerely, H S

Refer to attachments for tabular differences and activity diagram