Esters are named in the same manner as salts of carboxylic acids. For example, the ester shown in
the reaction in Figure 8.13 has the common name ethyl acetate, or the IUPAC name ethyl ethanoate.
Esters that are cyclic are called lactones and are named by replacing –oic acid with –lactone.
Several examples are shown in Figure 8.14.
Figure 8.14. Examples of LactonesAnhydrides
Anhydrides can be formed by the condensation of two carboxylic acids. They are named by
replacing the acid at the end of the name of the parent carboxylic acid with anhydride, whether
cyclic or linear. One example is the condensation of two molecules of ethanoic acid to form
ethanoic anhydride, as shown in Figure 8.15. Just like the above reactions, anhydride formation
occurs via nucleophilic acyl substitution.
Figure 8.15. Synthesis of an Anhydride via Carboxylic Acid CondensationREDUCTION
Carboxylic acids can be reduced to primary alcohols by the use of lithium aluminum hydride
(LiAlH 4 ). Aldehyde intermediates may be formed in the course of this reaction, but they, too, will be