Question

Write the chemical equation of the reaction of ethanoic acid with the following:

(1) sodium

Write the name of one main product of the reaction.

Answer 1

Reaction of a carboxylic acid with active metal:

• Carboxylic acids undergo a chemical reaction with sodium and potassium to produce salt and hydrogen (${\mathrm{H}}_2$).
• The reactions are identical to those of acids such as hydrochloric acid, except that they are considerably slower.

$$\begin{gathered} 2\mathrm{RCOOH}\left(\mathrm{l}\right)+2\mathrm{Na}\left(\mathrm{s}\right)\to 2{\mathrm{RCOO}}^{-}{\mathrm{Na}}^{+}\left(\mathrm{l}\right)+{\mathrm{H}}_2\left(\mathrm{g}\right) \\ 2\mathrm{RCOOH}\left(\mathrm{l}\right)+\mathrm{Mg}\left(\mathrm{s}\right)\to {\left({\mathrm{RCOO}}^{-}\right)}_2{\mathrm{Mg}}^{2+}\left(\mathrm{l}\right)+{\mathrm{H}}_2\left(\mathrm{g}\right) \end{gathered}$$

Reaction of ethanoic acid $\left({\mathrm{CH}}_3\mathrm{COOH}\right)$ with sodium $\left(\mathrm{Na}\right)$:

• Ethanoic acid is a weak organic acid that combines with sodium metal to generate sodium ethanoate$\left({\mathrm{CH}}_3{\mathrm{COO}}^{-}{\mathrm{Na}}^{+}\right)$, also known as sodium acetate, and releases hydrogen with a 'pop." sound as the hydrogen escapes during the reaction.
• This reaction is an excellent approach for detecting alcohol or acid in a compound
• The chemical reaction can be depicted as:
  $2{\mathrm{CH}}_3\mathrm{COOH}\left(\mathrm{aq}\right)+2\mathrm{Na}\left(\mathrm{s}\right)\to 2{\mathrm{CH}}_3{\mathrm{COO}}^{-}{\mathrm{Na}}^{+}\left(\mathrm{aq}\right)+{\mathrm{H}}_2\left(\mathrm{g}\right)$
• The main product obtained here is sodium acetate ${\mathrm{CH}}_3{\mathrm{COO}}^{-}{\mathrm{Na}}^{+}$.