When Esters Are Hydrolyzed?

Ester hydrolysis is a reaction that breaks an ester bond with a molecule of water or a hydroxide ion to form a carboxylic acid and an alcohol. One common use of ester hydrolysis is to create soaps, which are the salts of fatty acids from triglycerides. This process is called saponification.

Which reaction conditions will hydrolyze an ester?

Hydrolysis using water or dilute acid

The reaction is catalysed by dilute acid, and so the ester is heated under reflux with a dilute acid like dilute hydrochloric acid or dilute sulphuric acid.

When an ester is hydrolyzed in the presence of a strong base the products would be?

In the presence of a strong base such as NaOH, water splits an ester into a carboxylic acid salt and an alcohol.