Esters (A2)
Esters (A2)
- An ester can be made from an alcohol or a phenol.
- The fast way is to use an acyl chloride.
- The reaction happens at room temperature.
Practice
An ester can be made at room temperature by reacting an acyl chloride with:
Both alcohols and phenols react with acyl chlorides to give esters (+ HCl).
Practice
Making an ester from an acyl chloride happens at room temperature.
Acyl chlorides are very reactive, so the reaction proceeds quickly at room temperature.
Making esters
- An alcohol or phenol + an acyl chloride → an ester + HCl, at room temperature.
- Examples: ethyl ethanoate (from ethanol); phenyl benzoate (from phenol).
Practice
Reacting phenol with benzoyl chloride gives:
A phenol + an acyl (benzoyl) chloride forms the ester phenyl benzoate.
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Key idea
- an ester forms from an alcohol or phenol + an acyl chloride (+ HCl), at room temperature
- examples: ethyl ethanoate (ethanol), phenyl benzoate (phenol)