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1.0 Summary
Ethyl Acetate is a broadly used solvent. It has a sweet smell similar to pear drops
(according to Wikipedia). Ethyl Acetate has many uses, both as a solvent and as a
reagent. It can be used to make Acetamide or Ethyl Acetoacetate, for instance. It has also
gained some use as a Nail Polish Remover.

2.0 Objective

1) To synthesis ethyl acetate (ethyl ethanoate)

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3.0 Introduction

In chemical engineering or in chemical subject, there is a chemical compound named

esters. Esters are derived from an acid (organic or inorganic) in which at least one OH
(hydroxyl) group is replaced by an alkyl group. Usually, esters are derived from a
carboxylic acid and alcohol. Esters with low molecular weight are commonly used as
fragrances and found in essential oils too. Esters used in fragrances because it can
produce a really good smell. Ester names are derived from the parent alcohol and the
parent acid, where the latter may be organic or inorganic. Esters named came from the
simplest carboxylic acids are commonly used. Esters are more polar than ethers but less
polar than alcohols. They participate in hydrogen bonds as hydrogen-bond acceptors, but
cannot act as hydrogen-bond donors, unlike their parent alcohol. Consequently, esters are
more volatile than carboxylic acids ot similar molecular weight. Esters are widespread in
nature and are widely used in industry. Esters are responsible for the aroma of many
fruits, including apples, pears, bananas, pineapples and strawberry. The reaction to
complete esters are alcohol and carboxylic acid. It is common in organic chemistry and
biological materials, and often have the characteristic pleasant, fruity odor. It also used in
flavouring and as polymers. The example of esters name are, Allyl hexanoate, benzyl
acetate, butyl acetate and the odor or occurrence are pineapple,(pear,strawberry,jasmine)
and (apple, honey) respectively.

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4.0 Material

Chemicals

Ethanol, glacial acetic acid, conc. sulfuric acid, 30% sodium carbonate solution, calcium
chloride, granular anhydrous calcium chloride, anti-bumping granules.

Apparatus

Round bottom flask, water condenser, retort stand, separating funnel

5.0 Discussion
As already stated, this reaction is a classical example of a Fischer Esterification
reaction. This terminology is employed to describe a reaction between a Carboxylic Acid
and an Alcohol, with an acid catalyst, under reflux.
Acetic Acid reacts with Ethanol, using Sulfuric Acid as a catalyst, to produce
Ethyl Acetate and Water. This is an equilibrium reaction:
Acetic Acid + Ethanol <> Ethyl Acetate + Water
Because this is an equilibrium, simply adding the reagents wont produce a good
yield of Ethyl Acetate. However, by refluxing and by having an acid catalyst, one can
obtain a significant amount of Ethyl Acetate. Still, the reaction will be far from
completion. Thats why it is important to do a simple distillation after the reflux.
At some point, almost all Ethanol is going to be consumed as it either it gets
distilled away or it reacts to form Ethyl Acetate. Thats one of the reasons it is good to

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have excess Acetic Acid present, which allows for more Ethanol to react in the
equilibrium.
At this point, the azeotropic mixture of Ethyl Acetate and Water should start to
distill off. Notice that the percentage of Ethyl Acetate that distills over in both azeotropic
mixtures is much higher than any other compound. At some point, the Ethyl Acetate is
going to get all distilled over.
When all Ethyl Acetate is distilled, the temperature suddenly rises. This is because
water is going to start to be distilled over (100C). It is at this point that one should stop
the distillation. The relatively high boiling point of Acetic Acid prevents it from distilling
over.
The Ethyl Acetate that is collected is contaminated with Water and Ethanol (some
Acetic Acid may be present). The Ethanol present aids preventing the hydrolysis of Ethyl
Acetate.
After removing the Ethanol, it is necessary to remove the water present. We did so
by distilling with a drying agent. Calcium Chloride can form a multitude of hydrated
species effectively absorbing the water from the Ethyl Acetate. In this case, Calcium
Chloride forms the dihydrate, which only decomposes at around 175C. This allows us to
distill the Ethyl Acetate and effectively remove the Water from it.
The collected product is pure Ethyl Acetate. I was able to obtain 68,2g. This
represents an yield of 77,4% based on Ethanol.

8.0 Conclusion & Recommendations

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Esters also produce some other smell like souring smell like alcohol and acid
because esters are produce from alcohol and acid. Example of the alcohol were methanol
and ethanol. It produced two different power of smell. The smell is like the same, but the
power of the smell makes them different. Methanol and ethanol are reacted with acid to
produce esters. Esters can be smell easily when we mix it with water and never to try
smell directly the esters while it still hot. Waving some vapors to your nose to smell it
correctly. We must use esters correctly because it can make air pollution to our
environment and also our nature. The wasted esters, alcohol or acid must be thrown it in
the right way. We cannot dump it into the pond, river or sea. It can affect the habitat in the
water. The fishes may die easily because of our bad manners.

9.0 References

1. 2006, ORGANIC CHEMISTRY, McGraw Hill Inter. Edittion

2. Web,ChemWIKI
http://chemwiki.ucdavis.edu/Organic_Chemistry/Esters/Properties_of_Est
ers
3. Web, Wikipedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ester