3.6.1

Properties of Carboxylic Acids

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Carboxylic Acids

Carboxylic acids have some useful reactions, among them neutralisation reactions and esterification.

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Structure

  • Above is a molecule containing -COOH, the carboxylic acid functional group. This example is called propanoic acid.
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Acidic properties

  • Carboxylic acids are weak acids.
    • This means they only partially ionise in water.
  • They will react with carbonates to produce carbon dioxide.
    • This can be used as a test for carboxylic acids.
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Esterification

  • Carboxylic acids will react with alcohols.
  • This reaction is called esterification. It produces an ester.
    • Usually, you would use sulfuric acid as a catalyst for this reaction.
  • You don't need the mechanism for this, but the ester group is shown on the next slide.
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Structure of ester

  • The ester formed from the reaction between an alcohol and a carboxylic acid will contain the ester functional group, R-COO-R, as shown above.

Jump to other topics

1Physical Chemistry

1.1Atoms, Molecules & Stoichiometry

1.2Atomic Structure

1.3Chemical Bonding

1.4States of Matter

1.5Chemical Energetics

1.6Electrochemistry

1.7Equilibria

1.8Partition Coefficient

1.9Reaction Kinetics

2Inorganic Chemistry

3Organic Chemistry & Analysis

3.1Introduction to Organic Chemistry

3.2Hydrocarbons

3.3Halogen Derivatives

3.4Hydroxy Compounds

3.5Carbonyl Compounds

3.6Carboxylic Acids & Derivatives

3.7Nitrogen Compounds

3.8Polymerisation

3.9Analytical Techniques

3.10Organic Synthesis

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