MDCAT Chemistry · Chemistry · Carboxylic acids. The idea in plain words, the rules to remember, the mistake to avoid and a worked example, written and checked by Mega Lecture.
Carboxylic acids contain the –COOH group. They are weak acids, yet far stronger than alcohols or phenol, because the negative charge of the carboxylate ion, RCOO−, is shared equally between two oxygen atoms. Groups that pull electrons away, such as Cl, make the acid stronger. Alkyl groups push electrons and make it weaker.
Replacing the –OH of the acid gives the derivatives: acid chlorides (RCOCl), anhydrides, esters (RCOOR′) and amides (RCONH2).
Acids and their derivatives react by nucleophilic substitution, not addition, because the carbonyl carbon carries a group that can leave. The better the leaving group, the more reactive the derivative.
Students name an ester the wrong way round. The first word comes from the alcohol and the second from the acid: HCOOCH2CH3 is ethyl methanoate, made from methanoic acid and ethanol.
Answer: 2.64 g of ethyl ethanoate (about 2.6 g)
Type what you are stuck on. The helper finds the explanation, worked examples and the notes to read, free and instant.
← Aldehydes and ketonesPolymers →Take a MDCAT Chemistry test