BRAINCAKEUses of Esters
Esters have many everyday uses. AQA expects you to know four: solvents, plasticisers, perfumes and food flavourings. Each use follows from their properties.
Smell and volatility. Esters have pleasant, often fruity smells. Ester molecules cannot form hydrogen bonds with each other (they have no O-H group), so their boiling points are low and they evaporate easily. For example, ethyl ethanoate boils at 77 °C, while its isomer butanoic acid boils at 164 °C. Volatile, sweet-smelling esters are used in perfumes and as food flavourings; 3-methylbutyl ethanoate, for example, tastes and smells of bananas.
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More in Carboxylic Acids and Derivatives
- Carboxylic Acids as Weak Acids
- Reaction with Carbonates
- Esterification
- Naming Esters
- Hydrolysis of Esters
- Vegetable Oils and Fats
- Soap Making
- Biodiesel
All 16 lessons in Carboxylic Acids and Derivatives · All AQA A-level Chemistry topics