Esters, fats and oils Flashcards
What are esters?
Esters are carbon compounds formed when alcohols react with carboxylic acids by condensation.
What is the general formula for esters?
CnH2n02
Names the functional group of alcohols and what it’s known as
The alcohols functional group is -OH and it’s known as the hydroxyl group.
What are the uses of esters?
- perfumes
* solvents
Name the functional group found in carboxylic acids and what it’s known as:
The functional groups found is carboxylic acid is -COOH and it’s known as the carboxylic group.
What is meant by ester hydrolysis?
Esters hydrolysis is when an ester reacts with water, the water breaks down to form an alcohol and carboxylic acid.
What is the ester link?
(-COO-)or (-OCO)
O
|| O---C
What are fats and oils?
Fats and oils are esters formed from the reaction of glycerol (an alcohol) and three fatty acid molecules.
Propane-1,2,3-triol
(Glycerol)
H
|
H–––C–––OH
|
H–––C–––OH
|
H–––C–––OH
|
H
What is the product that ester formed?
The product ester formed is a fat or oil and can be called a triglyceride because of the three ester links.
How are fats and oils formed?
Fats and oils are formed from the reaction of glycerol with three fatty acids.
What are fats and oils examples of?
Fats and oils are examples of esters.
Why are fats solid at room temperature?
As fats are formed from saturated fatty acids, a high degree of saturation gives the fat molecules an even and regular structure which allows them to pack closely together. This efficient packing increases the van der Waals’ attractions, making the attraction between fat molecules greater than the attraction between oil molecules. When the fat is heated, the van der Waals’ attractions are broken and the fat melts.
What are oils liquid at room temperature?
As oil molecules are formed from unsaturated fatty acids, the double bonds in oils cause the molecules to have uneven and irregular structure, which makes it difficult for them to pack closely together. This results in fewer van der Waals’ attraction between oil molecules. It therefore takes less energy to break apart the oil molecules which means that oils have a lower M.P than fats.
Why is glycerol very viscous and has a higher B.P than other alcohols?
Glycerol is very viscous and has a high B.P than other alcohols because of the fact that glycerol has 3 -OH groups. This allows glycerol molecules to form more hydrogen bonds between molecules than alcohols with only a single -OH group.
What are fatty acids?
Fatty acids are carboxylic acids that contains a large number of carbon atoms.
