The reaction between ethyl acetate and sodium hydroxide
Ethyl acetate is an organic ester; sodium hydroxide is a strong basic compound. When the two meet, it is a chemical reaction.

When it is, in the structure of ethyl acetate, the ester group (-COO-) encounters the hydroxide ion (OH) of sodium hydroxide and undergoes hydrolysis. The mechanism of the reaction is that OH nucleophilic attacks the carbon of the carbonyl group in the ester group, causing the ester bond to break.

During the reaction, ethyl acetate ($CH_3COOC_2H_5 $) interacts with sodium hydroxide ($NaOH $), and the ester group is disconnected to form sodium acetate ($CH_3COONa $) and ethanol ($C_2H_5OH $). The chemical reaction equation can be expressed as: $CH_3COOC_2H_5 + NaOH\ stackrel {} {\ longrightarrow} CH_3COONa + C_2H_5OH $.

This reaction is often carried out at a suitable temperature and environment. At the beginning of the reaction, ethyl acetate and sodium hydroxide are mixed in the solution. As the reaction progresses, the concentration of ethyl acetate gradually decreases, while the amount of sodium acetate and ethanol gradually increases. Because sodium hydroxide is a strong base, it is completely ionized in water, and the hydroxide ion provided accelerates the rate of hydrolysis reaction.

Looking at this reaction, it is a typical example of hydrolysis reaction in the field of organic chemistry, providing an important way for the synthesis and analysis of organic compounds, and also plays an indispensable role in industrial production and scientific research experiments.