Carboxylic acid
oxoacid having the structure RC(=O)OH, used as a suffix in systematic name formation to denote the –C(=O)OH group including its carbon atom From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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A carboxylic acid is any molecule that has a COOH group. This group contains a carbonyl (C=O double bond) together with an hydroxyl group (OH) on the same carbon atom. Because it is easy to remove the proton with even a weak base, these compounds are called acids. An example of a carboxylic acid is acetic acid, which is also known as vinegar.
Carboxylic acids are found a lot in food. Many types of fat molecules are actually carboxylic acids. For example, chocolate and coconuts have these acids. They are also used a lot in soaps and detergents.
The smaller carboxylic acids dissolve in water. The bigger ones dissolve only in organic solvents.
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List
This section lists the first few carboxylic acids.
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