Science Common Sense

1336 - What is the difference between esterification and saponification reactions.

Imagine you have two big buckets of reactions that happen with fats and oils.

Esterification is when a fat or oil (which has an acid part) combines with an alcohol to form a new ester product, and it produces water as a byproduct. This is like building something new with Lego blocks.

Saponification, on the other hand, is kind of the opposite. It's when a fat or oil (which has an ester part) breaks down when it reacts with an alkaline substance like soap, and it produces fatty acid and alcohol as byproducts. This is like breaking down the Lego blocks back into the individual pieces.

So, esterification builds something new with fats and oils, and saponification breaks down the fats and oils into their smaller parts.