The Fischer Esterification

Abstract [5pts] – The written abstract should briefly state what was done, significant results, and a brief conclusion. Give percent yield of product and comment on purity, if possible. This should be short and to the point – no more than 75 words.
Introduction [10 pts]

The objective of this experiment was to perform an artificial organic reaction of associate alcohol referred to as esterification, establish the product by manner of IR spectrum and nuclear magnetic resonance, and calculate the % yield of the product. Esters are ordinarily used as artificial flavors in many alternative varieties of sodas and perfumes. Esterification may be a method used to synthesize associate organic compound by reacting a carboxylic acid with an alcohol. The formation of associate organic compound happens once the radical of the alcohol is removed and replaced by an ester group.

Paragraph 2: Describe the use of microwaves in the chemistry laboratory. Give some history and background, and discuss the advantages of microwave-promoted chemical reactions. Cite references.
Paragraph 3: Briefly discuss the mechanism of the Fischer esterification reaction. End with a statement of the purpose of the lab.

Results and Discussion (30 pts)

Paragraph 1: Give a very brief explanation of how the reaction was performed and how the product was isolated (3-4 sentences max). Do not include amounts of reagents used.
Paragraph 2: Discuss the function of the sulfuric acid in this reaction. Explain which reagent was added in excess, and explain why a large excess was used. How was the excess reagent removed in order to produce a final product of high purity?
Paragraph 3: Did this experiment accomplish what it was meant to? Give the yield of product (theoretical, experimental, percent). Show your calculations. Did you obtain a good yield? If not, why? How did you determine product purity? How did you identify your compound?

Paragraph 4: Report your IR results, but more importantly, discuss what those results mean. Assign important IR spectrum peaks, and explain specifically how your IR data proves you have made the desired product. You should state which IR peaks confirm the formation of an ester. You should also note the absence of peaks from your starting materials which would indicate that starting materials are no longer present.

Conclusion (5 pts)

In a few sentences, tie all this stuff together and summarize the results. Did the experiment work? Why or why not? What did you learn? Was it an interesting lab?

Experimental (15 pts)

This section should be a BREIF but detailed summary of how the experimental procedure. Your audieence is an organic chemist who is familiar with basic laboratory techniques. Include enough detail so that another researcher could repeat your work in lab. SEE “Writing in ACS Format”. )

Isopentyl acetate. Reaction set up-(include amounts of each reagent in brackets). Work up. Purification. #.##g, yd= # %. IR (ATR): #, #, #, #……cm-1. See handout on writing in ACS format

References (5 pts) References appear as footnotes in the printed journal. Click AddReference on the menu bar to add and format journal, book, and other references according to ACS style. NOTE: AddReference cannot format already existing references.
Supplemental Materials (15 pts)
Attach the IR spectrum of your product.
⦁ Draw the stucture of your product on the spectrum.
⦁ Indicate which functional groups should appear in the spectrum of your product.
⦁ Indicate which IR bands you used to confirm the presence of this functional group.
⦁ Clearly assign important bands to specific bonds of the molecule. Ex C=O stretch, C-O-C stretch
Attach literature spectra (obtained from the web) of the two starting materials, labeled with each compound’s structure.

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