Why is the esterification reaction of formic acid and isopropyl alcohol hard to do?

1 Answer
anor277
Sep 11, 2017

Are you sure that this reaction is hard to do?

Explanation:

#(H_3C)_2CHOH+HC(=O)OHstackrel(H^+, Delta)rarr(H_3C)_2CHO(O=)CH#

The product has a normal boiling point of #68.2# #""^@C#, whereas formic acid has a normal boiling point of #100.2# #""^@C#. The other starting material, isopropyl alcohol, has a normal boiling point of #82.6# #""^@C#. There should be little difficulty in purifying the ester by distillation as the volatile fraction....

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