What is the chemical reaction for:

The reaction of propanoic acid and 1-butanol

To determine the chemical reaction between propanoic acid and 1-butanol, we first need to understand the chemical structures of these compounds:

Propanoic acid: CH3CH2COOH
1-Butanol: CH3CH2CH2CH2OH

The reaction will typically involve the carboxylic acid group (COOH) of propanoic acid reacting with the hydroxyl group (OH) of 1-butanol to form an ester. Esters are compounds in which an organic acid and an alcohol combine, with the elimination of water. In this case, the resulting ester will be readily identified as propyl butyrate.

The balanced chemical equation for the reaction can be represented as:

CH3CH2COOH + CH3CH2CH2CH2OH ⟶ CH3CH2COOCH2CH2CH2CH3 + H2O

Thus, propanoic acid reacts with 1-butanol to produce propyl butyrate (CH3CH2COOCH2CH2CH2CH3) and water (H2O).