Question

Is William ether synthesis reversible?

Answer 1

The William ether synthesis reaction is used for manufacturing the ethers. The ether is formed with the help of organohalide and a deprotonated alcohol. The reaction forms the stable product with ether as the main product. The reaction will be reversible when the formed products have less stability than the reactant. Thus we will judge the stability of products formed in the William ether synthesis reaction.

Complete answer:
William ether synthesis reaction is the best and suitable reaction for the production of ethers. Basically here an alkoxide ion is made to react with primary alkyl halide which can be shown as:
${C_2}{H_5}{O^ - }N{a^ + }{\text{ + }}{C_2}{H_5}Cl{\text{ }} \to {\text{ }}{C_2}{H_5}O{C_2}{H_5}{\text{ + }}NaCl$
Here the ethoxide ion is made to react with ethyl chloride which will form di-ethyl ether and a salt called sodium chloride. Now according to thermodynamics a reaction will move in the direction of more stable compounds. In the above reaction we can see that the product formed is ether and a salt. Both ether and salt are stable in nature. Therefore the reaction will proceed in forward direction only. It will not be a reversible reaction since the products formed are more stable than the reactants. Therefore according to the law of thermodynamics it is an irreversible reaction.

Note:
Sodium chloride is a stable salt with a high value of bond dissociation enthalpy and thus it is stable in nature. Also ether is stable in nature due to high bond dissociation enthalpy. Reaction will be reversible in nature only when the formed products are not stable in nature. The reversibility of reaction can be explained with the help of thermodynamics.