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

1 Answer
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....