get conquering chem (HSC course). It explains it very well.
- Esterification: is the process of producing an ester by reacting an alkanol and an alkanoic acid in the presence of a sulfuric acid catalyst.
Generally:
Alkanol + alkanoic acid ---------> ester + water
the sulfuric acid catalyst has a high affinity for water (it absorbs water) and therefore shifts the equilbrium to the right (Le chat's principle). Therefore the catalyst speeds up the chemical reaction
- Esterification is a very slow process: to speed it up
- use a catalyst
- increase the temperature of the system
but in order to increase the temp, you need to reflux it. This is because when you heat the system, volatile products may escape the reaction chamber as a gas. In order to stop this, the gas is condensed using a coolant. This forces the gas into a liquid and therefore no product is lost. This is what refluxing is.
Hope it helps....good luck