joeweller Posted June 7, 2016 Share Posted June 7, 2016 What is Reaction mechanism of sodium hydroxide, ethanol and stearic acid? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hypervalent_iodine Posted June 7, 2016 Share Posted June 7, 2016 What do you think? What sort of functional groups are present? What sort of reagent is NaOH? What sorts of reactions do you know of involving these things? We are happy to help you, but we won't do your homework for you. Please give more information on where you are stuck. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Elite Engineer Posted June 7, 2016 Share Posted June 7, 2016 Esterification reaction. Understanding the mechanism is up to you... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheFreak Posted May 30, 2019 Share Posted May 30, 2019 Hi! Since you two seem to know what is going on here, could you please explain it? Because I am puzzled by this reaction. Now obviously I thought of esterification, however as far as I know (and could find), that requires an acid catalyst, not a base. The base is used for saponification. So it is esterification but with the catalyst for reverse esterification? That makes no sense right? Or is the sodium hydroxide used as some sort of dehydration agent? I came to this question via this video, where you can see the reactants: https://youtu.be/7ddpV8R6pFo?t=137 Either I'm stupid or I should throw my bachelor degree in chemistry in the bin, but I don't understand this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hypervalent_iodine Posted May 30, 2019 Share Posted May 30, 2019 1 hour ago, TheFreak said: Hi! Since you two seem to know what is going on here, could you please explain it? Because I am puzzled by this reaction. Now obviously I thought of esterification, however as far as I know (and could find), that requires an acid catalyst, not a base. The base is used for saponification. So it is esterification but with the catalyst for reverse esterification? That makes no sense right? Or is the sodium hydroxide used as some sort of dehydration agent? I came to this question via this video, where you can see the reactants: https://youtu.be/7ddpV8R6pFo?t=137 Either I'm stupid or I should throw my bachelor degree in chemistry in the bin, but I don't understand this. I mean, I never said it was an esterification. I don’t believe it is, for the reasons you’ve noted. You can generate esters using base and the carboxylic acid, but you would need to pair it up with the alkyl halide rather than the alcohol. Can be a bit finicky, but it’s doable. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheFreak Posted May 30, 2019 Share Posted May 30, 2019 I see. Would you possibly have another explanation then for what is happening in the video? I remain puzzled to what is going on. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Cuthber Posted May 30, 2019 Share Posted May 30, 2019 On 6/7/2016 at 8:56 PM, Elite Engineer said: Esterification reaction. I'd bet against that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hypervalent_iodine Posted May 31, 2019 Share Posted May 31, 2019 13 hours ago, TheFreak said: I see. Would you possibly have another explanation then for what is happening in the video? I remain puzzled to what is going on. They're making solid alcohol. I believe, but am not sure, that once you make the carboxylate with the NaOH, that plus the heat you generate allows for the alcohol to become encapsulated, giving you a powder. You can use a similar process to make gels using Ca(CH3CO2)2. Other types of commercial solid alcohol use carbohydrates (see here). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ginaboyle275 Posted June 13, 2019 Share Posted June 13, 2019 I think you need to give further details on what is it for. It's hard to conclude by imagination. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Elite Engineer Posted July 1, 2019 Share Posted July 1, 2019 On 5/30/2019 at 1:38 PM, John Cuthber said: I'd bet against that. Why's that? What other kind of reaction would you see with a fatty acid, ethanol, and hydroxide? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hypervalent_iodine Posted July 2, 2019 Share Posted July 2, 2019 1 hour ago, Elite Engineer said: Why's that? What other kind of reaction would you see with a fatty acid, ethanol, and hydroxide? You won't get the ester. You have an acid and a base, you're just going to get deprotonation. You need an acid catalyst to get the ester. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Elite Engineer Posted July 2, 2019 Share Posted July 2, 2019 Oh right. I was thinking of saponification. Thanks for the clarification Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now