Results/Discussion:
2-butanol and Acetic Acid were refluxed together with anti-bumping granules and a catalyst of sulphuric acid for 1 hour and five minutes. Anti-bumping granules are small ceramic granules which have rough edges. They are added within a mixture to encourage smooth boiling. In this experiment by adding the anti-bumping granules we were able to achieve smooth boiling throughout both the reflux process and the distillation process. Without adding these granules, bubbles of vapour may be difficult to form due to both process being conducted in a very clean, smooth glassware. Then all of a sudden a large bubble may form and disturb the liquid violently. Therefore the anti-bumping granules help prevent this ‘bumping’ which may disturb the boiling process (Halesowen.ac.uk). This is important in both the reflux and distillation processes as in both case, these processes are conducted over a long timeframe (answer to question 1). By refluxing the mixture we were able to collect our product of butyl ethanoate. As explained within the introduction the …show more content…
The calculated percentage yield was 0.82%. Which although was low, could be accounted for the equilibrium reaction and the loss of product due to transfer and spilling. The smell of the produced butyl ethanoate ester was nail polish remover, which is clearly not the smell of pears which through research it was meant to smell like. This indicates that the esterification process was unsuccessful. Another indication that the esterification process was unsuccessful was that the product was pipped out of distillation when the temperature was only 90°C, which is below the boiling points of acetic acid and 2-butyanol acid which through distillation it was hoped to separate these from the ester product. This experiment could be improved by subjecting the solution to the reflux process for a longer amount of
2-butanol and Acetic Acid were refluxed together with anti-bumping granules and a catalyst of sulphuric acid for 1 hour and five minutes. Anti-bumping granules are small ceramic granules which have rough edges. They are added within a mixture to encourage smooth boiling. In this experiment by adding the anti-bumping granules we were able to achieve smooth boiling throughout both the reflux process and the distillation process. Without adding these granules, bubbles of vapour may be difficult to form due to both process being conducted in a very clean, smooth glassware. Then all of a sudden a large bubble may form and disturb the liquid violently. Therefore the anti-bumping granules help prevent this ‘bumping’ which may disturb the boiling process (Halesowen.ac.uk). This is important in both the reflux and distillation processes as in both case, these processes are conducted over a long timeframe (answer to question 1). By refluxing the mixture we were able to collect our product of butyl ethanoate. As explained within the introduction the …show more content…
The calculated percentage yield was 0.82%. Which although was low, could be accounted for the equilibrium reaction and the loss of product due to transfer and spilling. The smell of the produced butyl ethanoate ester was nail polish remover, which is clearly not the smell of pears which through research it was meant to smell like. This indicates that the esterification process was unsuccessful. Another indication that the esterification process was unsuccessful was that the product was pipped out of distillation when the temperature was only 90°C, which is below the boiling points of acetic acid and 2-butyanol acid which through distillation it was hoped to separate these from the ester product. This experiment could be improved by subjecting the solution to the reflux process for a longer amount of