Carboxylic acids contain the carboxyl group: a carbonyl with oxygen attached to the carbon that’s attached to a hydrogen
Some common carboxylic acids are shown below:
Carboxylic acids are weak acids
Most carboxylic acids have a pKa of approximately 5
The dissociation reaction of acetic acid is shown below
carboxylic acids are more acidic than alcohols because of
They can react with sodium hydroxide and sodium bicarbonate to form carboxylates (salts of carboxylic acids)
The reaction of benzoic acid with sodium hydroxide is shown below