ABSTRACT
In this chapter, we will be discussing the chemistry of carboxylic acids, esters, acyl halides, anhydrides, and amides. is is dominated by substitution, where one group is exchanged with another. Substitution is NOT possible for aldehydes and ketones, as you can’t displace H− or R−— they are hopeless leaving groups. First, let’s review some nomenclature. e su‘x for carboxylic acids is -oic acid and the carbonyl of the acid is always numbered as C-1. e acid takes precedence over most other functional groups. Some examples are shown in Figure 15.1. Notice that when we have both a ketone and an acid in the molecule, it is named as a carboxylic acid, and the ketone is described as “oxo.”
