[CopperSmurf]

Hey all.
Ethyl acetate is an ester and a nice smelling liquid (which I REALLY LIKE) and was dissolved in water just fine. It can be hydrolyzed in dilute HCl. I know it also dissolves in dilute NaOH to make a salt so it's also soluble in water. So, would ethyl acetate be soluble in NaHCO3 (sodium bicarbonate) ? Or is that too weak of a base to do anything?

Also just curious for my own sake, do people get a "high" from smelling ethyl acetate? I seem to REALLY enjoy smelling it for some reason. I don't do drugs or anything like that, but if it is known to give a "high", I'm going to avoid it as much as possible! 

[expert]

Sodium bicarbonate is not strong enough as a base to substantially hydrolyse Ethyl Acetate.
Please don't smell it! Do not smell any chemicals at all. You never know if it will send you a cancer many years later.
Read this:
http://www.jtbaker.com/msds/englishhtml/e2850.htm
Inhalation:
Inhalation can cause severe irritation of mucous membranes and upper respiratory tract. Symptoms may include burning sensation, coughing, wheezing, laryngitis, shortness of breath, headache, nausea and vomiting. High concentrations may cause lung damage. An irritant to the nose, throat, and upper respiratory tract. Exposure to high concentrations have a narcotic effect and may cause liver and kidney damage.

[typhoon2028]

Uses of ethyl acetate
Ethyl acetate has many uses, such as artificial fruit essences and aroma enhancers, artificial flavours for confectionery, ice cream and cakes, as a solvent in many applications (including decaffeinating tea and coffee) for varnishes and paints (nail varnish remover), and for the manufacture of printing inks and perfumes.

[CopperSmurf]

thanks for letting me know that sodium bicarbonate isn't strong enough as a base to hydrolyze it. As for smelling... "narcotic effect" thanks for the early warning. It smelled really sweet and nice...  I don't think my nose was close enough to it for the "burning feeling". I'll try to avoid smelling anything pure from now on.

Typhoon, that sounds really gross, ethyl acetate is used for artificial fruit essences and ice cream and cakes? Can you provide a link to prove that? Putting that stuff in there to make it smell nice makes sense, but eating it???

[typhoon2028]

thanks for letting me know that sodium bicarbonate isn't strong enough as a base to hydrolyze it. As for smelling... "narcotic effect" thanks for the early warning. It smelled really sweet and nice...  I don't think my nose was close enough to it for the "burning feeling". I'll try to avoid smelling anything pure from now on.

Typhoon, that sounds really gross, ethyl acetate is used for artificial fruit essences and ice cream and cakes? Can you provide a link to prove that? Putting that stuff in there to make it smell nice makes sense, but eating it???

http://www.chm.bris.ac.uk/motm/ethylacetate/ethylh.htm