What is produced from the reaction of propanoic acid and ethanol?

The reaction between propanoic acid and ethanol results in the formation of ethyl propanoate, which is an ester. This reaction is known as esterification, where a carboxylic acid reacts with an alcohol in the presence of an acid catalyst, leading to the production of an ester and water.

In this case, propanoic acid (which contains a -COOH functional group) reacts with ethanol (which contains an -OH functional group). The -OH from the carboxylic acid and the hydrogen atom from the alcohol combine to form water, while the remaining parts of the acid and alcohol bond to form the ester. The structure of ethyl propanoate can be derived by replacing the -OH group in propanoic acid with the -O-ethyl group from ethanol.

Understanding the functional groups involved is crucial; propanoic acid contributes the propanoate part, while ethanol contributes the ethyl part to create ethyl propanoate. This makes ethyl propanoate the correct product of the reaction.