In Williamson’s synthesis, ethers are prepared by treating alkoxide or phenoxide with an alkyl halide. H 2SO 4, resulting in the formation of symmetrical ethers. Dehydration of alcoholsĪlcohols undergo intermolecular dehydration on heating with conc. Preparation of Ethers and esters Ethers 1. Similarly, esters cannot form hydrogen bonds, but they can form a hydrogen bond with the hydrogen of water molecules and their oxygen atoms. As chain length increases, this ability of the formation of hydrogen bonds decreases. The lower ethers like dimethyl ether etc can form hydrogen bonds between the hydrogen atoms of the water molecules and their own oxygen atoms. This is the reason ester layers float on top of aqueous layers. They have a pleasant and distinctive odor and are highly flammable.Įsters are colorless volatile liquids and low melting solids and they have fruity smells.Įthers are less dense than water but their densities are higher than hydrocarbons of similar molecular weight and the densities of esters are lesser than water too. Colors and smells of ethers vs estersĮthers are colorless volatile liquids. The boiling points of esters are higher than ethers.įor example, the boiling point for ethyl acetate is 77 ✬. However, the boiling points of esters are close to those of aldehyde and ketones of similar molecular weights. This is because of the presence of strong hydrogen bonding in the alcohols and acids. The boiling points of esters are lower than alcohol and carboxylic acid of similar molecular weight.

The boiling points of ethers are close to the hydrocarbons.įor example, the boiling point for dimethyl ether is -24 ✬.

While comparing with esters, ethers have again lower boiling points because of the lesser possibility to make hydrogen bonding with water hydrogens. This is because of the presence of strong hydrogen bonding in alcohols. The solubilities of methyl ethanoate and ethyl propanoate are as:Įthyl propanoate = 1.7 g/100ml (water) Boiling points of ethers vs estersĮthers with similar molecular weight or sometimes with the same molecular formula, when compared with alcohols, have a lower boiling point. They are, however, soluble in common organic solvents. The solubility of the esters falls as the chain length of the esters increases. The low molecular weight esters are also soluble in water due to one-sided hydrogen bonding. The lower ethers (up till C 3) are soluble in water but their solubility decreases as the chain length increases.ĭimethyl ether has more solubility in water because its extent of hydrogen bonding with water molecules is larger as compared to diethyl ether which has lesser solubility. Properties of ethers and esters Solubility of ethers vs Esters The second word is the name of carboxylic acid, the suffix ‘-ic’ is replaced by the ‘-ate’.The first word is the name of the R group from the alcoholic part, it is named by adding the suffix ‘-yl’.Their names are derived from the same alcohols and acids because of which the names of the esters consist of two separate words: In IUPAC system of ethers nomenclature, smaller alkyl groups with oxygen are named alkoxy groups while the larger alkyl groups are taken as parent molecules.Įsters are formed by the combination of alcohols and carboxylic acids. For naming the symmetrical ethers, the prefix “-di” is used with the name of the alkyl group.įor example, ethyl methyl ether, and dimethyl ether, etc.Įsters on the other hand are named with carboxylic acid functionality along with the addition of an alkyl name.įor example, methyl acetate, and ethyl propionate, etc. The common names of ethers include names of two alkyl groups ending with the word ether. Nomenclature of ethers and esters Common names They can be used as synthetic flavors and perfumes They have sweet and slightly pungent smell Their melting and boiling points are higher than ethersĮsters are hydrolyzed into alcohols and carboxylic acid Their melting and boiling points are lower than esters The name of esters end with a suffix “-ate” The ester functional groups have a carbonyl group bonded to an oxygen atom which is further bonded to an alkyl groupĮthers may be symmetrical or asymmetrical The ether functional groups have an oxygen atom that forms a single bonds with two carbon atoms

Ester functional group