ester Chem.
(ˈɛstə(r))
[G. (L. Gmelin Handb. d. Chemie (1848) IV. 161), prob. f. essig vinegar + äther ether.]
A derivative of an acid in which one or more acidic hydrogen atoms are replaced by an alkyl, aryl, or similar group; acrylic ester (see quot. 1951). Also attrib. and Comb.; ester gum (see quot. 1940).
| [1852 H. Watts tr. Gmelin's Hand-bk. Chem. VII. 190 Ethers du troisième genre. I formerly distinguished these compounds by the name of Naphthas produced by oxygen-acids (Naphthen durch Sauers[t]offsäuren erzeugt); but I now propose for them the term Ester.] Ibid. 215 Compound Ethers formed by Oxygen-acids (Ester). 1889 Muir & Morley Watts's Dict. Chem. II. 466 A compound ether (or ester) is a hydrogen salt in which the typical hydrogen has been displaced by an alkyl. 1899 E. F. Smith tr. von Richter's Org. Chem. I. 139 Just as salts result from the union of metallic hydroxides with acids, so esters are formed by the combination of alcohols with acids. 1904 [see thion-]. 1906 Practitioner Nov. 593 The rapidly fermentable fruit and malt sugars, esters, and higher alcohols. 1907 Jrnl. Chem. Soc. XCII. i. 383 Ester-Acids of Sulphur-substituted Carbonic Acids with Aliphatic Hydroxy-Acids. 1921 Jrnl. Soc. Dyers & Colourists XXXVII. 288/1 Acetyl silk, the new ester⁓silk. 1930 Flight 17 Jan. 134/2 Dope is a solution of cellulose esters in various solvents and diluents. 1940 Chambers's Techn. Dict. 309/2 Ester gums, rosin or gums which have been esterified with glycerine; raw material for varnishes. 1946 Nature 28 Dec. 930/2 It may conveniently be obtained by direct esterification of the glycol or by catalysed ester-interchange between the glycol and dimethyl terephthalate. 1951 Gloss. Terms Plastics (B.S.I.) 9 Acrylic ester, an ester of acrylic acid, or of a structural derivative of acrylic acid. 1958 Engineering 28 Feb. 281/3 The production of cross links of the ester type formed by the introduction of the COOH and OH groups. 1965 Nomencl. Org. Chem. (I.U.P.A.C.) c. 126 Neutral esters of carboxylic acids, etc., are named in the same way as their neutral salts except that (a) the name of the alkyl or aryl, etc., radical replaces the name of the cation and (b) a periphrase such as ‘(alkyl or aryl) ester’ replaces ‘(metal) salt’. |
Hence eˌsterifiˈcation, the process of forming an ester; the conversion of an acid into its ester; eˈsterify v. [-fy], to convert into an ester.
| 1898 Nature 6 Jan. 239/1 The authors have made experiments on the esterification of many cinnamic acids. 1903 Rep. Brit. Assoc. (1902) 586 The rate of esterification of methyl hydrogen succinate. 1907 Practitioner June 864 Arhovin..is a product of diphenylamin and the esterified thymol-benzoic acid. 1920 Cross & Bevan Paper-Making (ed. 5) 27 Esterifying reagents. 1940 Esterify [see above]. 1946 Esterification [see above]. 1956 Nature 24 Mar. 575/2 Vitamin A is absorbed through the lymphatic system mostly in the esterified form and is stored in the liver predominantly as ester. 1966 Lancet 24 Dec. 1421/2 The galactose is esterified with the sulphate at position 6. |