Esterification

The reaction between carboxylic acid and an alcohol in the presence of conc. H₂SO₄ to form a sweet odoured substance, ester with the functional

The esterification reaction is slow and reversible.

The equation for the reaction between an acid RCOOH and an alcohol R/OH
(where R and R/ can be the same or different) is:

So, for example, if you want to prepare ethyl ethanoate or ethyl acitate from ethanoic acid and ethanol, the equation would be:

Soaps – Saponification and Micelles

Do you know what ‘soap’ is?
Soap is a sodium or potassium salt of a higher fatty acid like palmitic acid (C₁₅H₃₁COOH), stearic acid (C₁₇H₃₅COOH), oleic acid (C₁₇H₃₃COOH) etc. The formula of a soap in general is RCOONa or RCOOK, where R = C₁₅H₃₁ ; C₁₇H₃₅ etc.

Fats are esters of higher fatty acids and the trihydroxy alcohol known asglycerol.

When fats are treated with sodium hydroxide, sodium salts the fatty acids and glycerol is formed. The sodium salts of these higher fatty acids being soaps the reaction is the soap formation reaction which is generally called as ‘saponification reaction’.

Saponification reaction

Alkaline hydrolysis of tri esters of higher fatty acids producing soaps is called saponification.