Esterification and IR (Part 2)

The cooled contents of the flask were transferred to a centrifuge tube containing water (3 mL). The layers were mixed thoroughly, and the aqueous layer was removed. Sat. aq. sodium bicarbonate was added (1 mL) and the layers were mixed again. The aqueous layer was removed, and the process was repeated once more. Sat. aq. Sodium chloride (1 mL) was added to the ester and the layers were mixed. The lower aqueous layer was removed and added to the waste beaker. The organic layer was transferred to a clean vial and 5 spheres of anhydrous CaCl₂ were added as a drying agent. The spheres of CaCl₂ instantly fell apart and mixed with the liquid which indicated the presence of excess water in the ester product. Since product could not be recovered, experiment was halted and another student’s data on isopentyl propionate was used for the ‘results’ and ‘discussion’ portion of the lab report.