Question

Compare esterification and saponification reaction.

Answer 1

Esterification is opposite/reverse of saponification.
In esterification, a carboxylic acid and an alcohol react to form an ester in presence of acid.
$RCOOH+R^{\prime }OH\stackrel{H+}{\to }RCOO{R}^{\prime }+H_{2}O$
Whereas, in saponification, an ester reacts with a strong base or an acid to give alcohol and carboxylic acid.
$RCOO{R}^{\prime }+NaOH\to RCOONa+R^{\prime }OH$