carboxylic acid plus alcohol yields ester plus water.
It is an organic substitution reaction
wot type of reaction is this
CH3CO2H + C6H5CH2OH---------------> CH3COOCH2C6H5 + water
is it like a substitution or like an addition or wot?
The reaction you mentioned, involving the combination of carboxylic acid (CH3CO2H) and alcohol (C6H5CH2OH) to produce an ester (CH3COOCH2C6H5) and water, is an example of an organic substitution reaction.
To understand why it is a substitution reaction, let's break down the reaction mechanism step-by-step.
1. The carboxylic acid (CH3CO2H) undergoes ionization in the presence of a strong acid or base to form a carboxylate ion (CH3COO-) and a positively charged hydrogen ion (H+).
2. The alcohol (C6H5CH2OH) also undergoes ionization in the presence of a strong acid or base to form an alkoxide ion (C6H5CH2O-) and a positively charged hydrogen ion (H+).
3. The carboxylate ion (CH3COO-) and the alkoxide ion (C6H5CH2O-) react with each other in a substitution reaction, where the carboxylate ion (referred to as a nucleophile) replaces the -OH group of the alkoxide ion (referred to as the leaving group).
4. As a result of the substitution, an ester (CH3COOCH2C6H5) is formed, with the alkoxide group now attached to the carboxylate group.
5. Finally, water is produced as a byproduct when the positively charged hydrogen ions (H+) from the initial ionization of both the acid and alcohol combine.
So, overall, this reaction can be categorized as a substitution reaction because one group (the -OH group of the alcohol) is replaced with another group (the -OR group from the carboxylate ion), resulting in the formation of an ester.