Annie Termaat and Christopher Talbot Solutions for Chapter: Does Organic Chemistry Mean We Can Make Any Substance We Want?, Exercise 13: ACTIVITY: Making esters

Formulate balanced equilibrium equations for the synthesis of esters

i) $2$-hydroxybenzoic acid and methanol

ii) Butanoic acid and methanol

iii) Ethanoic acid and ethanol

iv) Ethanoic acid and pentan-$1$-ol

v) Ethanoic acid and octan-$1$-ol

vi) Butanoic acid and Ethanol

vii) Butanoic acid and Pentan-$1$-ol

viii) Heptanoic acid and ethanol

ix) Benzoic acid and ethanol

x) benzoic acid and Methanol

Why some of the synthesised esters don't usually smell exactly the same as a delicious, ripe example of the fruit in which they may be found?

Explain why esters are immiscible in water although alcohols and carboxylic acids (with short length alkyl chains) tend to be water soluble.

Analyse the formula of an ester found in beeswax to identify the formulas of the carboxylic acid and the alcohol reactants used to form it:

${\mathrm{CH}}_3{\left({\mathrm{CH}}_2\right)}_{14}\mathrm{COO}{\left({\mathrm{CH}}_2\right)}_{29}{\mathrm{CH}}_3$