CHEM 6BL- Final Exam Guide - Comprehensive Notes for the exam ( 33 pages long!)
Document Summary
Esters can be formed through condensation reactions between a carboxylic acid + alcohol, but when initiated until acidic conditions (by an acid catalyst), this is known as fisher esterification. It is important to note that this is a reversible reaction, so the acid and alcohol reactants and ester products are in equilibrium (implied by the double arrow). What this means is that once the reaction reaches equilibrium, there could be a large amount of starting material remaining, resulting in a poor yield of the ester. In order to resolve this problem we make use of le. Chatelier"s principle, which predicts that we can drive the equilibrium to the right (to the products) by having one of the reactants in excess (in effect, putting pressure on the left side). Upon acid catalysis, the carboxylic acid is protonated and transforms into an activated electrophile.
