Good points Norm. I forgot to mention also that the Fischer esterification reaction reaches an equilibrium rather than going 100% products. In one of our experiments we determine the value of the equilibrium constant. Using acetic acid and various primary alcohols, the students usually get values in the 2 to 5 range. Since the reaction is very slow at room temperature, the mixture is refluxed for about two hours, checking for completeness of reaction by titrating aliquots from the reaction mixture to determine how much acetic acid remains.
Steve
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