Carboxylic+acid



-Carboxylic acid is a functional group (COOH) -The carboxyl functional group that characterizes the carboxylic acids is unusual in that it is composed of two functional groups. The carboxyl group is made up of a hydroxyl group bonded to a carbonyl group. It is often written in condensed form as –CO2H or –COOH. The change in chemical and physical properties resulting from the interaction of the hydroxyl and carbonyl group are so profound that the combination is customarily treated as a distinct and different functional group Carboxylic acids are typi cally weak acids, meaning that they only partially dissociate into H+ cations and RCOO– anions in neutral aqueous solution. For example, at room temperature, only 0.4% of all acetic acid molecules are dissociated. Electronegative substituents give stronger acids.
 * What is a Carboxylic Acid Group?**

Characterization
Carboxylic acids are the most readily identified as such by infrared spectroscopy. They exhibit a sharp band, which is associated with the vibration of the carbon and oxygen bond, which appears to be between 1680 and 1725 cm. A characteristic oxygen and hydrogen band appears as a broad peak, which is ussualy between 2500 to 3000 cm region. The hydroxyl hydrogen appears in the 10-13 ppm region, although its often either broadened or not observed owing to exchhanged with the traces of water. Carboxylic acid is polar and participate in hydrogen bonding. They usually have higher boiling points than water because they have high surface area. They are also usually slightly acidic.