Question

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

Answer 1

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....