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Chemistry LibreTexts

Fischer Esterification

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Fischer esterification is the esterification of a carboxylic acid by heating it with an alcohol in the presence of a strong acid as the catalyst.
eg:




fischeresterification1.png

The overall reaction is reversible; to drive the reaction to completion, it is necessary to exploit Le Chateliers principle, which can be done either by continuously removing the water formed from the system or by using a large excess of the alcohol.

Mechanism:

fischeresterification2.png


This page titled Fischer Esterification is shared under a All Rights Reserved (used with permission) license and was authored, remixed, and/or curated by Gamini Gunawardena via source content that was edited to the style and standards of the LibreTexts platform.

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