Describe two ways to drive the Fischer esterification reaction, and equilibrium
ID: 524526 • Letter: D
Question
Describe two ways to drive the Fischer esterification reaction, and equilibrium reaction, to the right. In the preparation of your ester what is the purpose of a) Washing the organic layer with sodium bicarbonate solution? (b) washing the organic layer with saturated sodium chloride solution? Write a balanced equation that describes the reaction of sodium bicarbonate with sulfuric acid. Draw a detailed mechanism for the Fischer esterification of benzoic acid with methanol. Include sulfuric acid as the catalyst. Use the curved-arrow formalism. Show all lone pairs and formal charges.Explanation / Answer
Ans 1.
Fischer esterification reaction is the acid catalysed reaction between a carboxylic acid and alcohol to give ester as the major organic product.
When the reaction reaches the equillibrium , there are still reactants left in the reaction , this leads to poor yields of ester.
To drive the reaction forward and increase the yield of ester .
1. the concentration of reactants should be increased .
According to Le Chatelier's principle , the excess of any 1 reactant would shift the equillibrium to right .
2. The second way is to remove the water from the reaction , as soon as it is formed .
The use of concentrated sulfuric acid removes water from the products as it rapidly reacts with water to hydrated form of itself.