What is the difference between an ether and an ester?

1 Answer
May 27, 2018

An Ether is an organic molecule which has two carbon atoms that are single bonded to an oxygen atom. One such example would be dimethyl ether, shown below

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Meanwhile, an Ester is usually derived from the Carboxylic group and contains a double bond between a carbon and an oxygen atom. One such example would be ethyl propanoate, shown in the following diagram:

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Hopefully this helps!