Question

Write the reaction between ethanol and acetic anhydride.

Answer 1

Ethanol reacts with acetic anhydride in presence of an acid catalyst to form a corresponding ester.

\[\begin{array}{cc}
\phantom{................}\ce{O}\phantom{.................}\ce{O}\phantom{.......................}\ce{O}\phantom{}\\
\phantom{................}||\phantom{..................}||\phantom{.......................}||\phantom{}\\
\ce{\underset{\text{Ethanol}}{C2H5 - OH} + \underset{\text{Acetic anhydride}}{(CH3 - C -)2O} ⇌[H+] \underset{\text{Ethyl ethanoate}}{CH3 - C - O - C2H5} + \underset{\text{Ethanoic acid}}{CH3 - C - OH}}
\end{array}\]