Carboxylic Acids Flashcards
What are carboxylic acids?
Carboxylic acids are a homologous series of compounds that all have ‘-COOH’ as a functional group.
What are the main carboxylic acids?
Methanoic acid (HCOOH), Ethanoic acid (CH3COOH), Propanoic acid (C2H5COOH) and Butanoic acid (C3H7COOH).
How do carboxylic acids react?
Carboxylic acids react with carbonates to produce a salt, water and carbon dioxide. The salts formed end with an ‘anoate’, e.g. methanoic acid will form a methanoate.
What happens when carboxylic acids dissolve in water?
When they dissolve, they ionise and release H+ ions resulting in an acidic solution.
Why do carboxylic acids have a higher pH than strong acids?
Carboxylic acids don’t ionise completely in water, they just form weak acidic solutions. This means they have a higher pH than aqueous solutions of strong acids of the same concentration.
What is an ester?
Esters have the functional group ‘-C00-‘ and are formed from an alcohol and carboxylic acid. An acidic catalyst is usually used. E.g. ethyl ethanoate can be produced from ethanoic acid and ethanol with an acid catalyst.
What is the general formula of a carboxylic acid?
CnH2n+1COOH
