What are ester ? How are they formed ?illustrate with the help of a chemical equation.list two uses of esters.
Answers
Ester is a chemical compound that is produced by a reaction organic or inorganic acid with lighter or heavier alcohol. In esterification reaction at least hydroxyl (-OH) group is replaced by an alkyl (-O-) group.
In chemical reaction to make ester two reactants ,alcohol and an acid form an ester as the reaction product..
In the following two equations ester has been formed by 1st reaction by carboxylic acid with ethyl or methyl alcohol.
Uses of ester:perfume and mixing with essential oils and pheromones.It is a sweet smelling substance. Some type of esters are used flavourings of food.
Apart from that, esters can be used to produce polymers commercially called polyesters.
Polyesters is used to make plastic bottles or polyesters into fibres for making polyester cloths which are more durable than cotton clothings.