Question

CO2 and C2H5OH answer​

Answer 1

Ethanol and carbon dioxide actually do not react with one another on their own. Ethanol has a hydroxyl group (OH) that can act as a weak nucleophile, and carbon dioxide can act as an electrophile. If you had a base present to deprotonate the hydroxyl group on the ethanol and performed the reaction under high temperature and pressure, it's possible that the two might combine to form ethylcarbonic acid (CH3CH2OCO2H). The equation for this reaction is given below.

CH3CH2OH + CO2 --> CH3CH2OCO2H

Basically, the oxygen of the hydroxyl group on the ethanol will form a bond with the carbon atom of the CO2. This converts that group into a carbonic acid, which is a central carbon atom flanked by three oxygen atoms. But keep in mind that this can only happen under high temperature and pressure conditions. Simply bubbling CO2 through ethanol at room temperature will give no reaction.