Question

In my organic lab, we synthesized synthetic banana oil. I'm asked what gas escaped during the sodium bicarbonate washing and to write two reactions that took place during that operation. I know carbon dioxide escaped but I don't know how to write out the formulas.

Answer 1

The rxn for CO2 is
CH3COOH + NaHCO3 ==> H2CO3 + CH3COONa
Then H2CO3 --> H2O + CO2

You're getting rid of the excess CH3COOH.