What are carboxylic acids?

Carboxylic acids are a large group of chemical compounds that have all common structures composed of the three most important elements on Earth - carbon, oxygen and hydrogen. These different compounds form the most abundant, naturally occurring organic acids. Slightly stabbing the acidity of citrus fruits, such as lemons, comes from one example called citric acid. Most compounds are relatively simple chemically and quite weak as acid. Carboxylic acids in themselves have a major use, but more importantly, it is quite easy to break and recruit with other chemical compounds to create more complex substances.

Acids always have a chemical suction consisting of a carbon atom and hydrogen atom and two oxygen atoms called a carboxylic group. A wide range of organic molecules is also attached to the carbon atom, some quite complex. There may also be more than one carboxyl group. Dicarboxylic acids have two, while tricarkyselina boxingYlic has three and some acids can have up to 20 carboxylic groups.

One of the characteristics of carboxylic acids, which makes them so useful for organic life, is that they easily dissolve on individual molecules in solvent, including water. Even the most complex and stubborn of them are usually soluble in alcohol. Tricarboxylic acid citric acid is a common ingredient in the pop drinks of soda and other processed foods.

Another common food ingredient is acetic acid in vinegar. It is also used commercially to stop chemical reactions during the processing of a photographic film. However, almost half of the world's acetic acid supply is chemically converted into vinylacetate, one of the basic ingredients in adhesive and colors. As with other compounds, such as acrylic acid, vinylace can be chemically processed to plastics.

This versatilityBoxyl acids come from easy breakage of their chemical bindings. One demonstration is the model of the volcano of the child containing a bottle of vinegar. When a teaspoon of edible soda or sodium bicarbonate is added, the bottle is forcibly bubbled into water foam, carbon dioxide and sodium acetate. People and most other animals gain most of their energy from fissioned food through a number of chemical reactions called "Citric acid cycle".

amino acids are also among the most important carboxylic acid nature. "Building blocks of proteins" are nicknamed. Proteins in turn create almost endless diversity of organic tissues, from hair, skin, heart to the bark of trees. Scientists have taken this allusion to use acid or are chemically covered in a large number of applications. Perfumes, industrial bleaches, food preservatives and pharmaceutical drugs are just a few other examples.