This colorless liquid has a characteristic sweet smell (similar to pear drops) and is used in glues, nail polish removers, and in the decaffeination process of tea and coffee. Ethyl acetate is the ester of ethanol and acetic acid; it is manufactured on a large scale for use as a solvent. According to the CDC, Ethyl Acetate is only dangerous to the respiratory system in high exposures and can be irritating to skin when applied directly. As an ingredient in skin products, Ethyl Acetate has no major side effects and comes with no serious warnings
Ethyl acetate is used primarily as (1) a coatings solvent for paints, lacquers, and varnishes; (2) an extraction solvent for various processes, including decaffeination of coffee and tea; (3) a process solvent in the pharmaceutical industry; and (4) a carrier solvent for printing inks, adhesives, and nail polish.
Ethyl acetate is a widely used solvent, especially for paints, varnishes, lacquers, cleaning mixtures, and perfumes. Like last week's MOTW, dichloromethane, it is used as a solvent for decaffeinating coffee beans. In the lab, ethyl acetate is a common solvent for column and thin-layer chromatography.
Ethyl acetate is an organic chemical solvent made of ethanol and acetic acid with the chemical formula (C4H8O2). It is considered an ester and is mainly used in column chromatography, chemical extractions, and manufacturing processes.
