Carboxylic Acids and Their Derivatives

Preparation of Anhydrides Anhydrides are prepared by dehydration of carboxylic acids either at extremely high temperatures (800 oC) or by using P2O5 as a dehydrating agent:     For most carboxylic acids are not compatible with excessive heating, and even … Read more

This article summarizes the main reactions of esters with associated practice problems. We covered the mechanism and other details about each reaction so, if you need to go over them, click on the corresponding links. Let’s start with the hydrolysis … Read more

Esters can be converted into primary, secondary, and tertiary amides by an aminolysis reaction with ammonia, primary amine, and a secondary amin,e respectively:     The reaction goes by a nucleophilic addition-elimination mechanism, and alkoxy groups (RO–), being poor leaving … Read more

Alright, so we learned about the Fischer esterification from carboxylic acids and alcohols and their hydrolysis in acidic or basic conditions but what is transesterification? Transesterification is the conversion of one ester to another – simple:     Just like … Read more

We have seen that all the steps in the Fischer esterification are reversible and the equilibrium is shifted toward the ester product by using an excess of alcohol. This nature of the reaction allows to hydrolyze esters back into a … Read more

Fischer esterification is the acid-catalyzed reaction of carboxylic acids and alcohols:     Before we get into the details of this reaction, remember that there are other ways of preparing esters. For example, the carboxylic acid can be converted into … Read more