As I have been studying some chemistry, I came across how they make esters. It is a carboxilic acid + an alcohol, they say that they use sulfuric acid as a catalyst, now my question is, do you need a catalyst for some chemical reactions to work or does it just speed up the process? How can you tell which types of chemicals work as a catalyst in a chemical reaction?

 

Thanks,

some reactions do require a catalyst(either to get a specific reaction to occur over other reactions or because the catalyst is a necissary component of the reaction pathway) however most are there to increase the rate of reaction or allow the reaction to take place at lower temperatures.

 

you can tell if a chemical is acting as a catalyst by removing it (or adding more) and seeing if the rate changes.

some reactions do require a catalyst(either to get a specific reaction to occur over other reactions or because the catalyst is a necissary component of the reaction pathway) however most are there to increase the rate of reaction or allow the reaction to take place at lower temperatures.

 

Is the sulfuric acid in an ester reaction a necissary component of the reaction? Or can it be done without the sulfuric acid?

 

That will help a lot thanks,

it'll happen without the acid, but very very very slowly.

Thanks,

The acid speeds up the reaction considerably. But if you want a methyl ester...reacting a carboxylic acid in the presence of methanol and trimehtylsily diazomethane will give u the methyl ester in about 15mins