1)You are instructed to reflux the reaction for 1 hour. If theinstructions simply told you to reflux until the reaction wascomplete, how would you know when this was?Questions regardingOrganic Chemistry Lab: Fischer Esterification
2)Why do we wash the organic with aqueous base? Is acetic acidwater soluble (how do you know)? If it is water soluble, why don’twe just wash with water instead of aqueous base?
3)In most cases of Fischer esterification, the carboxylic acidis the more “valuable” piece and the alcohol is used in excess.Let’s say you are making the ethyl ester of an acid and use theethanol in excess. What technique would be used to remove theexcess ethanol?
Thanks in advance!
