Synthesis of Esters via Fischer Esterification Maria Gorgievski 16 October 2024 Introduction The wide variety in scents available on the market can be attributed to an oxygen-containing organic molecule called an ester. Esters are abundant in nature and contribute to the sweet smelling aromas of fruits and flowers. Due to their fragrant properties, they are highly useful when making perfumes and flavorings1. To harness the properties of esters, they can be synthesized in a lab by Fischer Esterification. This process involves reacting a carboxylic acid and an alcohol in the presence of a sulfuric acid catalyst to form an ester linkage2. The varying amount of carbon in the resulting ester determines its scent, for example: isoamyl acetate and …show more content…
The smell changed drastically between the beginning and end of the experiment, indicating a structural change in the chemicals. An1H NMR spectrum was also obtained for structural analysis, which can be found in Figure 1. Figure 1.1H NMR spectrum of unknown ester. This 1H NMR spectrum was sourced from the product of the reaction between carboxylic acid A and alcohol F. Analysis of the spectrum proceeded in the following fashion: the rightmost-shift indicates a methyl group with two neighboring hydrogens, proceeding left- the two multiplet shifts integrating to 2 hydrogens read as two -CH2 groups. The 3H singlet in the 2-3 PPM range indicates a methyl group connected to a carbonyl carbon, and the 2H triplet in the 4-5 PPM range signifies a -CH2 group connected to both an oxygen and another -CH2 group. Combining the identified subgroups generated the ester structure shown in Figure 2. Figure 2 - The. Ester Structure This is the chemical structure created through analysis of the 1H NMR spectrum of Figure