8.1 Description and Properties

LEARNING GOALS

After   Chapter 8.1,    you will    be  able    to:

Explain the underlying  cause   of  the relatively  high    acidity of  carboxylic  acids   

Predict the effects of  additional  substituents    on  the acidity of  a   carboxylic  acid    

    Rank    the acidity of  comparable  carboxylic  acids   based   on  their   structure:

A carboxylic acid contains both a carbonyl group and a hydroxyl group, bonded to the same
carbon. With three bonds to oxygen atoms, this is one of the most oxidized functional groups
encountered in organic chemistry. Carboxylic acids are always terminal groups.

NOMENCLATURE

In the IUPAC system of nomenclature, carboxylic acids are named by adding the suffix –oic acid to
the parent root when the carboxylic acid is the highest-priority functional group. When this is true,
the carbonyl carbon becomes carbon number 1. Figure 8.1 shows two examples.

Figure 8.1. IUPAC   Names   of  Carboxylic  Acids