How many equivalent hydrogens does ethyl acetate have?

Question

Isabella Acosta · Accepted Answer

Ethyl acetate has three sets of equivalent hydrogens.

The structure of ethyl acetate is

The molecule contains eight H atoms. Some of them are different from each other.

For example, the three H atoms on the left are attached to a carbon bonded to a C=O group.

They are different from the hydrogens on the CH₂ group, which is bonded to an O atom.

And the three H atoms on the right are different from the other two groups.

One way to check whether certain H atoms are equivalent is to replace each H atom with a group like Cl and see if you generate the same compound.

Replacing any H atom on the left hand C gives ClCH₂COOCH₂CH₃.

Replacing any H atom on the CH₂ group gives CH₃COOCHClCH₃.

Replacing any H atom on the right hand C gives CH₃COOCH₂CH₂Cl.

These are three different compounds, so there are three sets of equivalent H atoms.

The NMR spectrum for ethyl acetate confirms this prediction.

The signal at 1.83 ppm corresponds to the #"H"_"A"# hydrogens.

The signal at 1.05 ppm corresponds to the #"H"_"C"# hydrogens.

The signal at 3.91 ppm corresponds to the #"H"_"B"# hydrogens

Lucy Alessi · Answer

undefined Ethyl acetate has three equivalent hydrogens.