Question

An ester which is used as a medicine is:
A. ethyl acetate
B. methyl acetate
C. methyl salicylate
D. ethyl benzoate

Answer 1

Hint: As we know that esters are the carboxylic derivatives. And these are being prepared by the reaction called as esterification. It is found that esters constitute a large family of organic compounds that has wide application in medicine, chemistry, biology.

Complete step by step answer:
- It is found that methyl salicylate is used as a medicine. Its chemical name is methyl-2-hydroxybenzoate. And its chemical formula is denoted as ${{C}_{8}}{{H}_{8}}{{O}_{3}}$ .
- It is called wintergreen oil or oil of wintergreen as it is obtained from wintergreen species. It is found that methyl salicylate is used to treat pains of the joints or muscles like backache, sprains and arthritis and also to treat minor aches.
- Basically methyl salicylate and methanol causes the skin to feel cool and then warm., and these feelings distract us from the feeling of pain in our muscles and joints. So the correct answer is “C”:

Note: - As we know that methyl salicylate is obtained from plants of winter green, and this is the reason why it is called as oil of wintergreen. It is found that methyl salicylate can be produced by the esterification reaction between methanol and salicylic acid.
- It is also found that methyl salicylates are used as flavouring agents, analgesic, antiseptic.