Methyl Acetate Hydrolysis Reaction Lab Report

Purpose The purpose of this experiment is to determine the rate constants, k1, for the methyl acetate hydrolysis reaction at 25 °C and 35 °C, as well as the overall activation energy of the reaction.

Methods Methyl acetate was placed in an HCl solution, in which it reacts with water to form acetic acid over time. At each time interval, an aliquot of the mixture was removed for titration against NaOH to determine the concentration of the acetic acid produced. From the amount of acetic acid produced overtime, the rate constant, k1, can be determined. Consequently, the activation energy of the reaction can be calculated. Error analysis was performed on all uncertain values.

Procedure The procedure followed was given in the lab manual, Experiment
The same procedure was performed at 35 °C and the data were recorded in Table 3 and
In other words, for any reaction, at least the activation energy is required to start the reaction. In a publish literature describing the hydrolysis of ethyl acetate to produce acetic acid and ethanol, the activation energy for the hydrolysis of the ethyl acetate is calculated to be 24.8 kJ/mol. The literature value differs significantly from the experimental value because of various reasons. One, according to the literature, the hydrolysis of ethyl acetate is performed in gas phase conditions, which means ethyl acetate and water sample are heated to vapors when the reaction takes place. Two, the literature states that the immobilized lipase catalyzes the hydrolysis reaction, as opposed to the HCl catalyst in this experiment. Finally, the hydrolysis reaction performed in the literature uses ethyl acetate, as opposed to methyl acetate used in this experiment. Therefore, a significant difference is