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Ch.14 Carboxylic Acids, Esters, Amines, and Amides
Timberlake - Chemistry: An Introduction to General, Organic, and Biological Chemistry 14th Edition
Timberlake14thChemistry: An Introduction to General, Organic, and Biological ChemistryISBN: 9781292472249Not the one you use?Change textbook
Chapter 14, Problem 80c

Ethyl octanoate is a flavor component of mangoes.
c. Use condensed structural formula to write the balanced chemical equation for the acid hydrolysis of ethyl octanoate.

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1
Identify the chemical structure of ethyl octanoate. Ethyl octanoate is an ester with the condensed structural formula CH3(CH2)6COOCH2CH3.
Understand the process of acid hydrolysis. In acid hydrolysis, an ester reacts with water in the presence of an acid catalyst to produce a carboxylic acid and an alcohol.
Write the general reaction for acid hydrolysis of an ester: RCOOR' + H2O → RCOOH + R'OH. Here, R represents the alkyl group from the carboxylic acid, and R' represents the alkyl group from the alcohol.
Apply the specific groups from ethyl octanoate to the general formula. For ethyl octanoate, R = CH3(CH2)6 and R' = CH2CH3. The products will be octanoic acid (CH3(CH2)6COOH) and ethanol (CH3CH2OH).
Write the balanced chemical equation for the acid hydrolysis of ethyl octanoate: CH3(CH2)6COOCH2CH3 + H2O → CH3(CH2)6COOH + CH3CH2OH.

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Key Concepts

Here are the essential concepts you must grasp in order to answer the question correctly.

Ester Hydrolysis

Ester hydrolysis is a chemical reaction where an ester reacts with water to form an alcohol and a carboxylic acid. In the case of ethyl octanoate, the reaction involves the breaking of the ester bond in the presence of water, typically catalyzed by an acid or base. This process is essential in understanding how esters can be converted back to their constituent alcohols and acids.
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Condensed Structural Formula

A condensed structural formula provides a simplified representation of a molecule, showing the arrangement of atoms and the connectivity between them without depicting all the bonds explicitly. For ethyl octanoate, the condensed formula is C2H5OC7H15, which indicates the ethyl group (C2H5) attached to the octanoate part (C7H15). This format is useful for quickly identifying the components of the molecule in chemical equations.
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Balanced Chemical Equation

A balanced chemical equation represents a chemical reaction with equal numbers of each type of atom on both sides of the equation, adhering to the law of conservation of mass. For the acid hydrolysis of ethyl octanoate, the balanced equation will show the reactants (ethyl octanoate and water) and the products (octanoic acid and ethanol), ensuring that the number of atoms for each element is the same before and after the reaction.
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