formation of esters (1 Viewer)

*Pooja*

Member
Joined
Feb 29, 2004
Messages
244
Location
on the other side of the moon
(1)In the formation of a water molecule as a product: the -OH atom comes from the alkanol and the H comes from the alkanoic acid.

(2)When writing the formula for the ester, the aklanoates formula comes first, then the alkyl groups formula.

Are these things both true?
 

kimmeh

Sleeping
Joined
Jul 5, 2003
Messages
4,503
Location
Stables, Paddocks, Pens, Kennels, Cages
Gender
Female
HSC
2004
1> No. The OH comes from the alkanoic acid and the H comes from the alkanol.

2> it doesnt matter what you put first. i personally write it as the alkanol first because i can see the link easier and i can circle the water molecule so i dont get confused. So really, its up to you.

:)
 

xiao1985

Active Member
Joined
Jun 14, 2003
Messages
5,706
Gender
Male
HSC
N/A
kimmel, i fink he's referin to the work formula... like, methylbutanoate... if that's wut u mean, alkyl group comes first, then alkanoic acid....

eg, ethyl butanoate...

on the other hand if you are referrin to the structural diagram, it doesn't matter...
 

spice girl

magic mirror
Joined
Aug 10, 2002
Messages
785
the oxygen in the released water comes from the alkanoic acid, but the hydrogen, in truth, can come from anywhere (except hydrogens bound to carbon).

if you do an experiment where you have deuterium (heavy hydrogen) on the H of the OH in the alcohol, and dissolve it in water, and let it come to equilibrium, you will see that the deuterium will be in the water also. this is because the lone pair in the alcohol oxygen will, out of all randomness, steal a proton off a water, and release the proton that it already has.
 

Users Who Are Viewing This Thread (Users: 0, Guests: 1)

Top