Carboxylic Acids Flashcards
What are carboxylic acids?
A class of organic compounds which incorporates a carboxyl functional group
What is the functional group of carboxylic acids?
Carboxyl functional group
What does the name carboxyl come from?
Comes from the fact that a carbonyl group and a hydroxyl group are attached to the same atom
What is a carbonyl group?
A carbon double bonded to an oxygen (CO)
What is a hydroxyl group?
A carbon bonded to an OH group (COH)
What is the general formula for carboxylic acids?
RCOOH
How can RCOOH also be written?
RCO2H
Why were carboxylic acids among the earliest classes to be studied?
Due to their abundance in nature
How do you name carboxylic acids?
2
Find the parent alkane chain
Replace the ‘e’ of the alkane with ‘oic acid’
Why does one not need to use the locant #1 when naming carboxylic acids?
(2)
The CO2H group always lies at the end of the C chain
The functional group has the highest priority on the functional group ranking list
Name CH3CO2H
Ethanoic acid
ethane = alkane chain, ‘oic acid’ = ethanoic acid
Under what conditions is a group given the suffix ‘carboxylic acid’?
When the group is in a ring
How is a molecule named when there’s a carboxylic acid group in a cyclic structure?
(3)
The ring is given the suffix ‘carboxylic acid’
This is added to the name of the cyclic compound
This group is given the locant number #1
What is the formula for propanoic acid?
2
CH3CH2CO2H
Propane = three carbons (first C has 3 H, second C has 2 H, last C forms the carboxyl group)
How do you name the salts of carboxylic acids?
Provide the name of the cation followed by the name of the acid
The ‘ic acid’ ending is replaced by an ‘ate’
