Share with your friends
Call

Esterification is a reversible reaction:
carboxylic acid + alcohol $rightleftharpoons$ ester + water

Le Chatelier's principle applies here, if we have more water present, the position of equilibrium will move to the left and we will have less ester formed. If we use concentrated acid, the amount of water is minimised and the position of equilibrium is shifted to the right, making more of the ester.

Talk Doctor Online in Bissoy App