TG Description Students will prepare two esters of their choice and make observations of their properties. The perception of flavor is a phenomenon that incorporates the senses of taste, smell and texture. One cannot taste the flavor of spearmint chewing gum, or raw onion, if the nostrils are held closed. Esters are a class of compound that can help to illustrate the correlation between smell and flavor.
Many esters occur naturally and can be derived from a variety of plants.
Besides being used as food additives to enhance flavor, they are used in synthetic fragrances, industrial solvents, and as starting materials for plastics such as plexiglass. A couple of drops of concentrated hydrochloric or sulfuric acid is used to catalyze the reaction. Esters are named essentially as derivatives or salts of carboxylic acids, with the regular acid ending changed to -ate. The alkyl or aromatic group of the alcohol is named first. Usually, the cheaper of the two reagents is used in excess to force the equilibrium to the right and favor ester production.