Carboxyllic acid
Carboxylic acids are organic compounds which contain a carboxyl group (COOH)[1].
Naming
You always name carboxylic acids from the first carbon atom on the COOH group. This carbon atom is always counted as carbon number 1 regardless of how many other side chains there are on the compound.
Examples of Carboxylic acids
The shortest carboxylic acid is methanoic acid and its chemical formula is CH3COOH. Other examples include ethanoic acid, 2 methyl butanoic acid etc.
Formation
Primary alcohols can be oxidised through heating under reflux with potassium dichromate solution to produce carboxylic acids. Other ways of producing carboxylic acids include hydrolysing nitriles through acid or alkali hydrolysis[2].
Physical properties
Carboxylic acids have slightly higher boiling points than alcohols due to stronger hydrogen bonding.
Smaller chain carboxylic acids are relatively soluble in water. However the bigger acids tend to be less soluble due to the hydrocarbon tails breaking hydrogen bonds between water molecules and the carboxylic acid.
References
- ↑ Jim Clark. Introducing Carboxylic Acids. 2004. [cited 03/12/17]. Available from: https://www.chemguide.co.uk/organicprops/acids/background.html
- ↑ LibreTexts. Preparation of Carboxylic Acids. 2015. [cited 03/12/17]. Available from: https://chem.libretexts.org/Core/Organic_Chemistry/Carboxylic_Acids/Synthesis_of_Carboxylic_Acids/Preparation_of_carboxylic_acids
1.Jim Clark. Introducing Carboxylic Acids. 2004. [cited 03/12/17]. Available from: https://www.chemguide.co.uk/organicprops/acids/background.html
2.LibreTexts. Preparation of Carboxylic Acids. 2015. [cited 03/12/17]. Available from: https://chem.libretexts.org/Core/Organic_Chemistry/Carboxylic_Acids/Synthesis_of_Carboxylic_Acids/Preparation_of_carboxylic_acids