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GCSE Chemistry · key term
An organic compound containing the –COOH functional group.
Used by Edexcel and OCR
Specification 9.29C, 9.30C, 9.31C, 9.32C · Paper 2
An organic compound containing the carboxyl functional group, .
Revise: Carboxylic AcidsCarboxylic acids are a family of organic compounds.
An organic acid containing the functional group.
Specification C6.2a, C6.2c · Paper 2 (Foundation), Paper 4 (Higher)
A family of organic compounds containing a carboxyl (–COOH) group.
Revise: Functional Groups and SeriesA name can provide a check: -ane indicates an alkane, -ene an alkene, -ol an alcohol, and -oic acid a carboxylic acid. The beginning of the name tells you about the number of carbon atoms, while the ending tells you the family. For example, ethanol and ethanoic acid both have two carbon atoms, but their endings—and their functional groups—place them in different homologous series.
Paper 1 (Foundation), Paper 2 (Foundation), Paper 3 (Higher), Paper 4 (Higher)
Revise: Predicting reaction productsThe first members provide familiar reference points: methane to butane among the alkanes; ethene onwards among the alkenes; methanol to butanol among the alcohols; and methanoic acid to butanoic acid among the carboxylic acids. There is no methene because a C=C bond requires two carbon atoms.
Do not classify a carboxylic acid as an alcohol just because its –COOH group contains O–H. Look for the whole –COOH group.
Oxidation of a straight-chain alcohol produces the carboxylic acid with the same number of carbon atoms: propanol forms propanoic acid, not ethanoic acid.
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