Question

The alkaline hydrolysis of ester is known as

• A. dehydrogenation
• B. dehydration
• C. esterification
• D. saponification

Answer 1

Answer: (D)

The alkaline hydrolysis of ester is known as saponification. When ester is heated with aqueous $NaOH$, sodium salt of acid and alcohol are formed.

$\underset{\text{ester}}{R-\stackrel{\stackrel{O}{||}}{C}-O}-R^{\prime }+NaOH\stackrel{\mathrm{H}{}_2\mathrm{O}}{\to }$

$R-\stackrel{\stackrel{O}{||}}{C}\underset{\text{sodium carboxylate }}{-O^{-}}-N{a}^{+}+\underset{\text{alcohol}}{R^{\prime }OH}$