Esters (Oxford AQA IGCSE Chemistry)

Revision Note

Author

Philippa Platt

Expertise

Chemistry

Naming Esters

Alcohols and carboxylic acids react to make esters in esterification reactions
Esters are compounds with the functional group R-COO-R
Ethanoic acid will react with ethanol in the presence of concentrated sulfuric acid (catalyst) to form ethyl ethanoate:

CH₃COOH + C₂H₅OH → CH₃COOC₂H₅ + H₂O

The ester functional group

Ethanoic Acid + Ethanol

Preparing-Ethyl-Ethanoate_, IGCSE & GCSE Chemistry revision notes — **Diagram showing the formation of ethyl ethanoate**

Exam Tip

You are only expected to be able to give the name of ethyl ethanoate, but you should be able to recognise a compound as an ester from its name or its structural formula.

Properties & Uses of Esters

Esters are sweet smelling oily liquids used in food flavourings and perfumes
They are volatile, meaning they vaporise easily

An image to show the uses of esters as perfumes — **Esters can be used as perfumes**

Photo by pngtree

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