Final answer:
Ethyl acetate is not prepared by an SN2 reaction but through esterification of ethanol and acetic acid, which is an acid-catalyzed nucleophilic acyl substitution, not involving the bimolecular nucleophilic substitution characteristic of SN2 mechanisms.
Step-by-step explanation:
Can ethyl acetate be prepared by an SN2 reaction? The answer is No. Ethyl acetate (CH3 CO2 C2H5) is typically formed through a nucleophilic acyl substitution reaction between ethanol (C2H5OH) and acetic acid (CH3COOH), which is an esterification process, rather than through an SN2 mechanism. The SN2 reaction mechanism is characterized by a one-step process where a nucleophile attacks the electrophilic center of a substrate, leading to the simultaneous displacement of a leaving group. However, in the formation of ethyl acetate, no such bimolecular nucleophilic substitution occurs. Instead, the reaction is acid-catalyzed, often with a small amount of sulfuric acid to accelerate the process, and it leads to the formation of ethyl acetate and water without the involvement of an SN2 pathway.