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5: Carboxylic Acids and their Derivatives

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    558587
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    • 5.1: Carboxylic Acid Derivatives
      The functional groups at the heart of this chapter are called carboxylic acid derivatives: they include carboxylic acids themselves, carboxylates (deprotonated carboxylic acids), amides, esters, thioesters, and acyl phosphates.
    • 5.2: Nomenclature of Carboxylic Acids
    • 5.3: Physical Properties of Carboxylic Acids
    • 5.4: Nomenclature of Esters
    • 5.5: Properties of Esters
      This page defines esters and discusses their simple physical properties such as solubility and boiling points. It includes an introduction to more complicated naturally-occurring esters like animal and vegetable fats and oils.
    • 5.6: Acidity of Carboxylic Acids
      This page discusses the acidity of carboxylic acids, emphasizing their ionization and reactions with strong bases. It explains that carboxylic acids are weak acids that dissociate partially, with their acidity measured by \(K_a\) and \(pK_a\) values. The page details neutralization reactions with bases, resulting in salts and water, and highlights the role of certain organic salts as food preservatives by inhibiting bacterial and fungal spoilage.
    • 5.7: The Nucleophilic Acyl Substitution Mechanism
      The fact that one of the atoms adjacent to the carbonyl carbon in carboxylic acid derivatives is an electronegative heteroatom – rather than a carbon like in ketones or a hydrogen like in aldehydes - is critical to understanding the reactivity of carboxylic acid derivatives.
    • 5.8: Reactions of Carboxylic Acids - Ester and Amide Formation
      This page discusses the formation of esters and amides from carboxylic acids through reactions with alcohols and amines, detailing esterification and condensation polymerization for polyesters like PET. It explains how amides form from carboxylic acids and ammonia or amines, mentioning that tertiary amines do not create amides. Additionally, the page covers polyamides, such as nylons, emphasizing their significance in various industrial applications.


    5: Carboxylic Acids and their Derivatives is shared under a CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 license and was authored, remixed, and/or curated by LibreTexts.