Diethyl Ether Production from Ethyl Acetate and Sodium Ethoxide

What does Ethyl acetate on heating with Sodium ethoxide form?

a) Ethyl acetoacetate

b) Sodium acetate

c) Ethanol

d) Diethyl ether

Answer:

Heating Ethyl acetate with Sodium ethoxide produces Diethyl ether.

When Ethyl acetate is heated with Sodium ethoxide, it will undergo a chemical reaction to form Diethyl ether which is option d. This is an example of the Williamson Ether Synthesis. The reaction mechanism starts with the Sodium ethoxide acting as a base and deprotonating the Ethyl acetate at one of its β-hydrogens. This leads to the formation of a enolate intermediate. The enolate then acts as a nucleophile, attacking another molecule of Ethyl acetate to produce Diethyl ether.

Diethyl ether is produced from the reaction between Ethyl acetate and Sodium ethoxide through a process known as the Williamson Ether Synthesis. This reaction is commonly used in organic chemistry to synthesize ethers.