What is the effect of increasing the carbon chain length on the acidity of carboxylic acids?
Practice Questions
1 question
Q1
What is the effect of increasing the carbon chain length on the acidity of carboxylic acids?
Increases acidity
Decreases acidity
No effect
Varies with structure
Increasing the carbon chain length generally decreases the acidity of carboxylic acids due to the inductive effect.
Questions & Step-by-step Solutions
1 item
Q
Q: What is the effect of increasing the carbon chain length on the acidity of carboxylic acids?
Solution: Increasing the carbon chain length generally decreases the acidity of carboxylic acids due to the inductive effect.
Steps: 7
Step 1: Understand what carboxylic acids are. They are organic compounds that contain a carboxyl group (-COOH).
Step 2: Know that acidity refers to how easily a substance can donate a proton (H+).
Step 3: Recognize that the carbon chain length refers to the number of carbon atoms in the molecule.
Step 4: Learn about the inductive effect, which is the influence of electron-withdrawing or electron-donating groups on the acidity of a compound.
Step 5: Realize that as the carbon chain length increases, the electron-donating effect of the alkyl groups also increases.
Step 6: Understand that this increased electron-donating effect makes it harder for the carboxylic acid to donate a proton, thus decreasing its acidity.
Step 7: Conclude that longer carbon chains generally lead to lower acidity in carboxylic acids.
