Draw the mechanism for the reaction of an acid chloride with an alcohol to form an ester

First thing to remember is that when drawing curly arrows, the arrows start where the electrons start and finish where the electrons end up. For this reaction the lone pair of electrons on the oxygen from the alcohol attacks the carbon of the carbonyl group and an electron pair from the C=O bond gets pushed up onto the oxygen. This format an intermediate. The alcohol group is now positive so looses an H+, the chlorine is kicked out becoming Cl_ and the double bond (C=O) reforms. (mechanism would be drawn on whiteboard)

HR
Answered by Hannah R. Chemistry tutor

2932 Views

See similar Chemistry A Level tutors

Related Chemistry A Level answers

All answers ▸

What happens to reactivity as you go down group 1 in the periodic table?


Explain why the ionisation energies tend to increase across a period


Describe how you test for an aldehyde or ketone and distinguish between the two.


Giving the electronic configurations for each element, predict the trend in 1st ionisation energies going across period 2 from Lithium to Neon.


We're here to help

contact us iconContact ustelephone icon+44 (0) 203 773 6020
Facebook logoInstagram logoLinkedIn logo

MyTutor is part of the IXL family of brands:

© 2026 by IXL Learning