[TakeItEasy]

Could any of you please tell me some GOLDEN TIPS to distinguish the smell of esters?

[movies]

They tend to smell kind of fruity.  Which fruit depends on what the component parts are.

[Donaldson Tan]

why would anyone want to identify a chemical (ester) by sense of smell?

[TakeItEasy]

Actually,in my last practical exam there was a question like this:''Distinguish between the smell of the unknown compounds''.

[alphahydroxy]

hmm... dodgy exam questions - what do they teach 'em these days  

esters tend to have a distinctive smell - often kind of fruity and sweet. sometimes a bit funky like foot cheese.

they tend to become easily distinguishable once you've spent some time with them in the lab...

think ethyl acetate.... etc.

[Nucleophile]

Actually,in my last practical exam there was a question like this:''Distinguish between the smell of the unknown compounds''.

Eh?

This is definetly wrong. Now I admit, to my great shame, that I've used my nose to identify substances before, but it certainly shouldn't be as part of any question or procedure.

[jdurg]

I actually think that's a good question.  While you should never use your sense of smell as a definitive analytical tool, I see no problem in showing people another 'tool' they have in the analysis of a compound.  If you make an ester out of some unknown chemicals, your sense of smell can save you a TON of time on the analysis.  Just based upon the odor alone, you should be able to narrow down the list of possible esters that it could be.  This makes analyzing your NMR and IR data a heck of a lot easier.

[TakeItEasy]

Well that's my problem...i can't distinguish between two estres by just smelling them...and also to do as the way you said i would have to smell many esters and save that particular smell in my memory...talking about smelling, i don't trust my sense of smelling very much[LOL]