Question

How do you appreciate the role of esters in everyday life?

Answer 1

An ester is an organic compound in which there is a presence of a $-COO-$ group between two alkyl groups. Naturally, esters are sweet in taste and have a good fragrance. Esters are also used in the saponification process.

Complete step by step solution:
An ester is an organic compound in which there is a presence of a $-COO-$ group between two alkyl groups and its general formula is $R-COO-R'$. For example, $C{{H}_{3}}-C{{H}_{2}}-COO-C{{H}_{3}}$ is known as ethyl ethanoate.
There are many properties of ester that make it suitable for daily uses and have many important applications in everyday life.
Naturally, esters are sweet in taste and have a good fragrance. Esters are also used in the saponification process. When esters react with acids or bases, it produces alcohol and carboxylic acids.
Since it is a sweet-tasting it is used as a flavouring agent to enhance the taste of food.
The perfumes we use daily are made from esters because they have a good fragrance.
The cosmetics which are used daily are also the products of esters.
The alcohol and carboxylic acid are produced by the treatment of esters with acids and bases.
The soaps used for bathing are produced by the saponification process in which esters are one of the main reactants. During the saponification, glycerol is also formed which is used in making beauty products.

Note: The odour of some Allyl hexanoate has pineapple odour, Benzyl acetate has jasmine odour, butyl acetate has apple, honey has an odour, ethyl cinnamate has a cinnamon odour, ethyl formate has a lemon odour, methyl pentanoate has a flowery odour, etc.