Question

Give a chemical equation for the reaction between ethyl alcohol and acetic acid.

Answer 1

$$\begin{gathered} {\mathrm{CH}}_3\mathrm{COOH}+{\mathrm{CH}}_3{\mathrm{CH}}_2\mathrm{OH}\to {\mathrm{CH}}_3{\mathrm{COOC}}_2{\mathrm{H}}_5+{\mathrm{H}}_2\mathrm{O} \\ AceticAcid\mathit{}\mathit{}\mathit{}\mathit{}\mathit{}\mathit{}EthylAlcohol\mathit{}\mathit{}\mathit{}\mathit{}\mathit{}EthylEthanoate\mathit{}\mathit{}\mathit{}\mathit{}\mathit{}\mathit{}Water \end{gathered}$$

1. Whenever an acid and an alcohol react, it produces ester and water.
2. When Acetic acid $\left({\mathrm{CH}}_3\mathrm{COOH}\right)$ and Ethyl alcohol $\left({\mathrm{CH}}_3{\mathrm{CH}}_2\mathrm{OH}\right)$ react, we get Ethyl Ethanoate/Ethyl Acetate $\left({\mathrm{CH}}_3{\mathrm{COOC}}_2{\mathrm{H}}_5\right)$ and water.
3. This reaction is known as esterification

$$\begin{gathered} {\mathrm{CH}}_3\mathrm{COOH}+{\mathrm{CH}}_3{\mathrm{CH}}_2\mathrm{OH}\to {\mathrm{CH}}_3{\mathrm{COOC}}_2{\mathrm{H}}_5+{\mathrm{H}}_2\mathrm{O} \\ AceticAcid\mathit{}\mathit{}\mathit{}\mathit{}\mathit{}\mathit{}EthylAlcohol\mathit{}\mathit{}\mathit{}\mathit{}\mathit{}EthylEthanoate\mathit{}\mathit{}\mathit{}\mathit{}\mathit{}\mathit{}Water \end{gathered}$$ is the chemical equation for the reaction between ethyl alcohol and acetic acid.