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( Carboxylic acid)
Carboxylic acids are organic acids characterized by the presence of a carboxyl group, which has the formula -C(=O)OH, usually written -COOH or -CO2H. [1] Carboxylic acids are Brønsted-Lowry acids — they are proton donors. Salts and anions of carboxylic acids are called carboxylates. The simplest series of carboxylic acids are the alkanoic acids, R-COOH, where R is a hydrogen or an alkyl group. Compounds may also have two or more carboxylic acid groups per molecule. Carboxylic acids are polar, and form hydrogen bonds with each other. At high temperatures, in vapor phase, carboxylic acids usually exist as dimeric pairs. Lower carboxylic acids (1 to 4 carbons) are miscible with water, whereas higher carboxylic acids are very much less-soluble due to the increasing hydrophobic nature of the alkyl chain. They tend to be rather soluble in less-polar solvents such as ethers and alcohols.[2] Carboxylic acids are widespread in nature and are typically weak acids, meaning that they only partially dissociate into H+ cations and RCOO- anions in aqueous solution. For example, at room temperature, only 0.02&_160;% of all acetic acid molecules are dissociated in water.
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