Carboxylic acid structure

Carboxylic Acid Structure
The general formula of a carboxylic acid is R-COOH, where COOH refers to the carboxyl group, and R refers to the rest of the molecule to which this group is attached. In this carboxyl group, there exists a carbon which shares a double bond with an oxygen atom and a single bond with a hydroxyl group.

A carboxylic acid’s general formula is R-COOH, where COOH denotes the carboxyl group and R denotes the remainder of the molecule to which this group is linked. There is a carbon in this carboxyl group that has a double connection with an oxygen atom and a single bond with a hydroxyl group.

The first four carboxylic acids derived from alkanes are methanoic acid (HCOOH), ethanoic acid (CH3COOH), propanoic acid (C2H5COOH), and butanoic acid (C3H7COOH).

The general structure of a carboxylic acid is illustrated below.