Esters
. Esters, in organic chemistry, compounds formed, along with water, by the reaction of acids and alcohols . Because this process is analogous to the neutralization of an acid by a base in salt formation, esters were formerly called ethereal salts. This term is misleading because esters, unlike salts, are not ionized in solution (see Acids and Bases ; Organic Chemistry ). Esters can be formed from both organic and inorganic acids. For example, the simple ester ethyl nitrate may be obtained from ethyl alcohol and nitric acid (an inorganic acid), and the ester ethyl acetate may be obtained from ethyl alcohol and acetic acid (an organic acid). Another method of preparing esters is to employ not the acid itself but its chloride. For example, ethyl acetate may be prepared by the action of alcohol upon acetyl chloride, the chloride of acetic acid. Another important method of preparation is by the reaction of the silver salts of acids with an alkyl halide (usually iodine ). For example, ethyl