Question

Complete the following transesterification reaction (the stoichiometry is given in the equation).

Short answer

Question: In a transesterification reaction, what are the general reactants and products, and write a balanced chemical equation for a hypothetical reaction using the general form: R1 - COO - R2 (ester) and R3 - OH (alcohol). Answer: In a transesterification reaction, the general reactants are an ester (R1 - COO - R2) and an alcohol (R3 - OH). The products are a new ester (R1 - COO - R3) and a new alcohol (R2 - OH). The balanced chemical equation for a hypothetical reaction is: R1 - COO - R2 + R3 - OH -> R1 - COO - R3 + R2 - OH

Step-by-step solution

Identify the reactants and products

For a transesterification reaction, the reactants are an ester and an alcohol, while the products are a new ester and a new alcohol. The ester will exchange its R group with the R group from the alcohol.

Write the general chemical equation for a transesterification reaction

A general chemical equation for a transesterification reaction can be written as: Ester + Alcohol -> New Ester + New Alcohol

Identify the specific reactants given in the reaction

In this specific exercise, we need to determine which ester and alcohol reactants are provided in the reaction. As there are no specific reactants given, let's assume that we have the following reactants: Ester: R1 - COO - R2 Alcohol: R3 - OH

Write the chemical equation for the specific transesterification reaction

Now, we will use the reactants identified in step 3 to write the specific transesterification reaction: R1 - COO - R2 + R3 - OH -> R1 - COO - R3 + R2 - OH

Balance the chemical equation by following the stoichiometry given in the exercise

In this specific exercise, the stoichiometry is not given. However, in most transesterification reactions, it will be 1:1 for both the reactants and the products. Therefore, the balanced chemical equation can be written as: R1 - COO - R2 + R3 - OH -> R1 - COO - R3 + R2 - OH The balanced equation indicates that one mole of ester reacts with one mole of alcohol to produce one mole of the new ester and one mole of the new alcohol.