Classes of carboxylic acids

Saturated aliphatic acids

Formic acid, HCOOH, is found not only in ants but also in the droplets on the tiny hairs of the stinging nettle plant (in the family Urticaceae), and the acidity of this compound causes the stinging sensation felt when these hairs are touched.

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Acetic acid, CH₃COOH, has been known to humankind for thousands of years (at least in water solution). It is the compound that gives the sourness to vinegar and is produced by the bacterial oxidation of ethanol in wine. Household vinegar contains about five percent acetic acid. Acetic acid is important in the metabolic processes of humans and, indeed, of all animals and plants. In these processes, the CH₃CO (acetyl) group of the acetic acid molecule is attached to a large biochemical molecule called coenzyme A; the entire compound is known as acetyl coenzyme A. In the metabolism of food materials (the body’s conversion of food to energy), the carbon atoms of carbohydrates, fats, and, to some degree, proteins are converted to acetyl groups that are bonded to coenzyme A to form acetyl coenzyme A. The acetyl groups of acetyl coenzyme A are then converted, by means of the tricarboxylic acid cycle and oxidative phosphorylation (see metabolism), to energy (in the form of adenosine triphosphate, or ATP) and carbon dioxide (CO₂), which is exhaled. Not all the acetyl groups of acetyl coenzyme A of an organism is converted to energy. Some is used to synthesize fatty acids, terpenes, steroids, and other needed molecules. The carboxylic acids that occur in fats have an even number of carbon atoms because they are synthesized entirely from the two-carbon acetyl units of acetyl coenzyme A.

The even-numbered fatty acids from 4 to 10 carbon atoms are mostly found in milk fats. Butanoic (butyric) acid, CH₃CH₂CH₂COOH, is an important component of cow’s milk. Goat’s milk is rich in fats containing the 6-, 8-, and 10-carbon acids: hexanoic (caproic), octanoic (caprylic), and decanoic (capric) acids, respectively. Common names for these three acids are derived from the Latin caper, meaning “goat.” Some hard cheeses (e.g., Swiss cheese) contain natural propanoic acid. The higher even-numbered saturated acids, from C₁₂ to C₁₈ (lauric, myristic, palmitic, and stearic), are present in the fats and oils of many animals and plants, with palmitic and stearic acids being the most prevalent. Lauric acid (C₁₂) is the main acid in coconut oil (45–50 percent) and palm kernel oil (45–55 percent). Nutmeg butter is rich in myristic acid (C₁₄), which constitutes 60–75 percent of the fatty-acid content. Palmitic acid (C₁₆) constitutes between 20 and 30 percent of most animal fats and is also an important constituent of most vegetable fats (35–45 percent of palm oil). Stearic acid (C₁₈) is also present in most fats but usually in smaller amounts than palmitic. Cocoa butter is unusually rich in stearic acid (35 percent).

Even-numbered saturated fatty acids higher than C₁₈ are much less common in fats but do occur in some waxes. Waxes obtained from animal and plant sources typically consist of carboxylic esters derived from long-chain acids and long-chain alcohols. For example, beeswax contains, among other components, the ester made from cerotic acid (C₂₆) and the unbranched-chain alcohol containing 30 carbons, triacontanol. Odd-numbered fatty acids have been found only in trace amounts in natural compounds, but many have been produced synthetically in the laboratory.

Unsaturated aliphatic acids

A number of acids important in organic chemistry contain carbon-carbon double bonds.

There exist α,β-unsaturated acids, in which the double bond is between the second and third carbons of the chain, as well as unsaturated acids, in which the double bond occurs in other positions. Although many of these latter acids occur in nature, they are less easy to synthesize than α,β-unsaturated acids. Esters of acrylic acid (ethyl and butyl acrylate) and methacrylic acid (methyl methacrylate) are important monomers for the synthesis of polymers. Methyl methacrylate polymerizes to yield a strong transparent solid that is used as a plastic under such proprietary names as Plexiglas and Lucite. The trans isomer of crotonic acid is found in croton oil. The cis isomer does not occur in nature but has been synthesized in the laboratory. Angelic and tiglic acids are a pair of cis-trans isomers. Angelic acid is found as an ester in angelica root, whereas tiglic acid occurs in croton oil and in several other natural products.

Ricinoleic acid, an unsaturated hydroxy acid (i.e., one containing an ―OH group), occurs in castor oil. When this acid is pyrolyzed (heated in the absence of air), it breaks down to give undecylenic acid and n-heptaldehyde.

The zinc salt of undecylenic acid is used to treat fungal infections of the skin, especially tinea pedis (athlete’s foot). Esters of this acid are used in perfumery. Sorbic acid, CH₃CH=CHCH=CHCOOH, which has two double bonds in conjugation (that is, two double bonds separated only by one single bond), and its potassium salt (potassium sorbate) are used as preservatives in many food products as well as in their packaging materials, since they inhibit the growth of molds and other fungi.

Many unsaturated acids occur in fats.

These naturally occurring unsaturated fatty acids have certain characteristics. (1) If there are two or more carbon-carbon double bonds, each double bond is separated from the next by a CH₂ (called methylene) group. (2) Virtually all double bonds in these and other naturally occurring unsaturated fatty acids have the cis configuration. (3) Linoleic and linolenic acids are needed by the human body, but the body cannot synthesize them. They must be obtained in the diet and, therefore, are called essential fatty acids. (4) Many unsaturated fatty acids are liquids at room temperature, in contrast to the saturated stearic (C₁₈) and arachidic (C₂₀) acids, which are solids. The reason is that the regular nature of the saturated hydrocarbon chains allows the molecules in the solid to stack in a close parallel arrangement, while the presence of cis double bonds in the unsaturated hydrocarbon chains breaks up this arrangement and forces the molecules to remain farther apart. Since the molecules in the unsaturated fatty acids are not as close to each other, less energy is needed to separate them, and a lower melting-point results. This situation is paralleled in the fats themselves, which are esters of these long-chain carboxylic acids where the alcohol component is glycerol, (HOCH₂)₂CHOH. Solid fats, obtained mostly from animal sources, have a high percentage of saturated fatty acids. Liquid fats (often called oils), obtained mainly from plant or fish sources, have a high percentage of unsaturated fatty acids. An exception is coconut oil, which, though obtained from a plant, has only a low percentage of unsaturated acids. The liquidity in this case is because of the high percentage of lauric acid (C12), which has a low molecular weight. Polyunsaturated fats may be defined as those containing an average of more than one double bond per fatty acid molecule.

Arachidonic acid is important because the human body uses it as a starting material in the synthesis of two kinds of essential substances, the prostaglandins and the leukotrienes, both of which are also unsaturated carboxylic acids. Examples are PGE₂ (a prostaglandin) and LTB₄ (a leukotriene). The symbol PG represents prostaglandin, E indicates the presence of a keto group on the five-membered ring, and the subscript ₂ indicates two double bonds. Similarly, LT represents leukotriene, B is one form, and the subscript 4 indicates four double bonds.

Prostaglandins and leukotrienes are made in small amounts, but they are significant because they act as hormone mediators. Some prostaglandins raise blood pressure, whereas others lower it. PGE₂ induces labour in pregnant women and is used medicinally for this purpose, as well as for therapeutic abortions. The PGEs, along with several other PGs, suppress gastric ulceration and appear to heal peptic ulcers. The PGE₁ analog, misoprostol, is currently used to prevent ulceration associated with the use of nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs).

Unsaturated acids exhibit chemical properties expected of compounds that contain both a COOH group and one or more carbon-carbon double bonds. Like all carboxylic acids, they are acidic; can be reduced to alcohols; can be converted to acid derivatives; and, like other compounds containing double bonds, can undergo the normal double-bond addition reactions and oxidation-reduction reactions.