Esters: Formation and Nomenclature

Overview of Esters

• Esters are organic compounds formed from the reaction of an alcohol and a carboxylic acid.

Formation of Esters

• Esters consist of two carbon sections:
  • One part derived from an alcohol.
  • Another part derived from a carboxylic acid.
• The part from the alcohol typically has a single bond to the oxygen, while the carboxylic acid part contains a double bond to oxygen.

Nomenclature of Esters

• The naming convention for esters involves referring to:

  • The alcohol (first part of the name) which is transformed into a branch.
  • The carboxylic acid (second part), which determines the suffix.

• Formal naming example: A methyl ester formed from methanol and ethanoic acid would be called methyl ethanoate.

• Alternate term discussed for naming esters is