Naming Esters
 Esters (R-CO-O-R') are named as alkyl derivatives of carboxylic acids.
 The alkyl (R') group is named first.
 The R-CO-O part is then named as a separate word based on the
carboxylic acid name, with the ending changed from -oic acid to -oate.
 Alcohol component
the root name is based on the longest chain containing
the -OH group.
The chain is numbered so the -OH has the lowest
possible number.
 Carboxylic acid component
the root name is based on the longest chain including
the carbonyl group.
Since the carboxylic acid group is at the end of the
chain, it must be C1.
The ester suffix for the acid component : -ane + -oate =
-anoate etc.
Example
 methyl propanoate
 An ester name has two parts - the part that comes from the acid
(propanoate) and the part that shows the alkyl group (methyl).
Propanoic Acid
The hydrogen in
the -COOH
group is replaced
by an alkyl group
in this case, a
methyl group.
Ester names are confusing
because the name is written
backwards from the way the
structure is drawn
Example #2
 Ethyl ethanoate
 This is probably the most commonly used example of an ester. It is based
on ethanoic acid (hence, ethanoate), a 2 carbon acid. The hydrogen in the
-COOH group is replaced by an ethyl group.
Example of Acids




HCOOH = methanoic acid
CH3COOH = ethanoic acid
CH3CH2COOH = propanoic acid
C3H7COOH = butanoic acid
Resources
 http://www.chemguide.co.uk/basicorg/conventions/names2.html
 http://www.chemguide.co.uk/organicprops/esters/background.html
 http://www.youtube.com/user/EducatorVids?v=oUMrNkiAKJ8&feature=pyv&
ad=8587454348&kw=organic%20chemistry
 http://www.chem.ucalgary.ca/courses/351/orgnom/esters/esters-01.html