South of Neutral pH: Carboxylic Acids

Alright, gang. We've revisited aldehydes and ketones, functional groups we met in OChem I, and learned a lot more about them in OChem II. It's time to give carboxylic acids that same treatment. In this series, we're going to learn how to do much more chemistry with carboxylic acids than just acid-base reactions. And, what's nice, is that everything we're going to cover here is going to be helpful when we tackle derivatives of carboxylic acids, so you're unknowingly doing future you a favor.

Worksheet(s) & Solution(s):

Videos:

  1. Intro to Carboxylic Acids: Review of Physical Properties and Oxidation-Reduction

    https://joechem.io/videos/67 for video on jOeCHEM and attached worksheet + solution (below video on jOeCHEM aka the link). In this video, we introduce the carboxylic acid functional group and introduce some terminology as well as review some physical properties. We also review oxidation and reduction.

  2. Grignard Reaction with Carbon Dioxide to Produce Carboxylic Acids

    https://joechem.io/videos/68 for video on jOeCHEM and attached worksheet + solution (below video on jOeCHEM aka the link). In this video, we look at producing carboxylic acids from a Grignard attack on a CO2 molecule.

  3. Hydration of a Nitrile to Produce Carboxylic Acids

    https://joechem.io/videos/69 for video on jOeCHEM and attached worksheet + solution (below video on jOeCHEM aka the link). In this video, we look at the reaction of hydrating a nitrile and mechanistically showing its transformation into a carboxylic acid.

  4. Making Acid Halides (Acid Chlorides and Bromides)

    https://joechem.io/videos/70 for video on jOeCHEM and attached worksheet + solution (below video on jOeCHEM aka the link). In this video, we look at how to make acid chlorides and acid bromides from carboxylic acids.

  5. Esterification--Making Esters from Carboxylic Acids

    https://joechem.io/videos/71 for video on jOeCHEM and attached worksheet + solution (below video on jOeCHEM aka the link). In this video, we look at the process of esterification (alcohol + carboxylic acid), analyze the mechanism, and do some examples of predicting the product after reviewing the mechanism.

  6. Making Acid Anhydrides from Carboxylic Acids

    https://joechem.io/videos/72 for video on jOeCHEM and attached worksheet + solution (below video on jOeCHEM aka the link). In this video, we look at how we can take carboxylic acids and transform them into acid anhydrides.

  7. Making Amides from Carboxylic Acids

    https://joechem.io/videos/73 for video on jOeCHEM and attached worksheet + solution (below video on jOeCHEM aka the link). In this video, we look at how we can produce amides from carboxylic acids.

  8. Hell-Volhard-Zelinksy Rxn & Mechanism

    https://joechem.io/videos/133 for video on jOeCHEM and attached worksheet + solution (below video on jOeCHEM aka the link). In this video, we get nice and cozy with the inner workings of the Hell-Volhard-Zelinksy Rxn.