The carboxylic acids are quite polar and they form hydrogen bonding just as alcohols, ketones and aldehydes do; HOWEVER, a pair of acids is held together by TWO hydrogen bonds instead of the one formed by alcohols, ketones, and aldehydes.
I've tried to draw a structure to chow you on this board and can't do it. But the OH of one COOH is hydrogen bonded to an O on the COOH of another molecule and the other molecule in turn bonds its OH with the O on the first molecule. So we have quasi dimers.
Why do carboxylic acids generally have higher melting and boiling points than alcohols, ketones, and aldehydes of comparable mass?
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becos it does, duh. where is your brain. think about it. it undergoes hydrogen bonding, meaning that the bonds are so strong. ur so dumb. just chill bruh and stop havin a heart attack over some lousy chem question. you'll be fine. jeez.
1 answer