Question

What happens when a carboxylic acid is heated with an alcohol in the presence of conc.${\mathrm{H}}_2{\mathrm{SO}}_4$ .

Answer 1

1. The reaction of an alcohol with a Carboxylic acid in the presence of conc. ${\mathrm{H}}_2{\mathrm{SO}}_4$ forms an ester. This is called an esterification reaction.
2. For example, the reaction of Ethyl alcohol and Acetic acid in the presence of conc. ${\mathrm{H}}_2{\mathrm{SO}}_4$forms Ethyl acetate.
3. The chemical reaction is as follows:

$$\begin{gathered} {\mathrm{CH}}_3{\mathrm{CH}}_2\mathrm{OH}\left(\mathrm{l}\right)+{\mathrm{CH}}_3\mathrm{COOH}\left(\mathrm{l}\right)\to {\mathrm{CH}}_3{\mathrm{COOCH}}_2{\mathrm{CH}}_3\left(\mathrm{l}\right)+{\mathrm{H}}_2\mathrm{O}\left(\mathrm{l}\right) \\ \mathrm{Ethyl}\mathrm{alcohol}\mathrm{Acetic}\mathrm{acid}\mathrm{Ethyl}\mathrm{acetate} \end{gathered}$$

3. The above reaction is called an esterification reaction.