Alcohols and Carboxylic Acids

Introduction to Alcohols

Alcohols are organic compounds with a hydroxyl (-OH) group attached to a carbon atom.
The general formula for alcohols is CnH2n+1OH.
Alcohols can be divided into three classes: primary, secondary, and tertiary depending on the number of carbon atoms connected to the carbon atom that carries the hydroxyl group.
Alcohols are soluble in water as they form hydrogen bonds with water molecules.
They can act as weak acids due to their ability to donate a proton (H+) from the hydroxyl group.

Alcohols have higher boiling points than equivalent alkanes and alkenes due to hydrogen bonding.
Small alcohols are completely soluble in water but solubility decreases as chain length increases.

Alcohols can undergo several types of reactions, including combustion, oxidation, and substitution.
Primary alcohols can be oxidized to form aldehydes and further oxidized to carboxylic acids.
Secondary alcohols can be oxidized to ketones, but tertiary alcohols cannot be oxidized.
Alcohols can react with carboxylic acids in the presence of a catalyst to form esters in a process known as esterification.

Carboxylic acids are organic compounds that contain a carboxyl group (-COOH).
The general formula for carboxylic acids is CnH2n+1COOH.
Carboxylic acids can be formed by the oxidation of alcohols and aldehydes.
They are named by replacing the -e in the corresponding alkane with -oic acid.

Like alcohols, carboxylic acids also form hydrogen bonds, leading to relatively high boiling points.
They are polar molecules and are soluble in water. However, as with alcohols, solubility decreases as chain length increases.

Carboxylic acids can react with alcohols to form esters.
They can also react with bases to form salts.
Carboxylic acids can undergo decarboxylation, which is a reaction resulting in the loss of carbon dioxide.
In the presence of heat, carboxylic acids can also perform dehydration reactions to form anhydrides.