Formaldehyde:

Color:
Odor:
Flammability: flammable- LIQUID. Can ignite if heated. Releases vapour that can form explosive mixture with air
at or above the flash point. Upon ignition, the chemical decomposes into carbon oxides (i.e. carbon
monoxide, carbon dioxide),
Volatility: Not all of them are, while they can not hydrogen bond like alcohols can, (this lack of an extra force to overcome makes them
have lower boiling points when compared to alcohols) the bigger or longer the carbon chain the higher the boiling point becomes. Because
The
they can't hydrogen-bond. Their only intermolecular forces are dipole-dipole, which keeps the boiling points low, and the volatility high.

polarity of carbonyl group makes aldehydes and ketones moderately polar compounds. • Aldehydes and
ketones don’t form hydrogen bonds to each other, however, they form hydrogen bond with water using
the electron lone pairs on oxygen.

Solubility in water: Best Answer: Water is a polar solvent, so will only dissolve those solutes which are highly polar or have a
significant degree of polarity to them. By polarity, we mean a substantial separation of positive and negative charge within the structure.

Formaldehyde and benzaldehyde are both organic molecules both are from the same basic class of compound i.e. aldehydes, whose
functional group is -CHO. This is hard to show on this forum, that doesn't allow drawings, but it consists of a carbon atom doubly bonded to
an oxygen atom, with the carbon atom also bonded to a hydrogen atom and, lastly, to some other undetermined chain. The important part,
though, is the C=0 bond, because this is a polar bond. The electron density within the double bond is displaced towards the oxygen, so that
there is a partial positive charge on the carbon and partial negative charge on the oxygen.

This is the case in both formaldehyde and benzaldehyde. However, we have to also consider the remainder of the molecule in each case. In
benzaldehyde, the rest of the molecule is a phenyl ring -C6H5. This ring is non-polar in character and is relatively large compared to the
aldehyde group. Because it is non-polar, it is a group which repels polar solvents such as water. Any polarity conferred by the aldehyde
group therefore becomes insignificant, and the molecule as a whole is insoluble in polar solvents such as water. With formaldehyde, the rest
of the molecule is a very small hydrogen atom. The polarity within the C-H bond (and there will be a little) is of litle consequence when
compared to the significant polarity of the aldehyde group. Thus, in formaldehyde, the polarity of the aldehyde group is the dominant feature
of the molecule as a whole and therefore formaldehyde dissolves in polar solvents such as water.
Raoul S. Tickler

Formaldehyde (or as per IUPAC methanal) and benzaldehyde are both aldehydes.
the aldehyde group, particularly the dipole formed by C=O makes it possible for the aldehyde to form hydrogen-bonding with water. making it
dissolve. Hence both should dissolve in water due to the aldehyde functional group.

However, Benzaldehyde contains a highly hydrophobic benzene ring that causes it to be insoluble in water.

Hence, methanal will be soluble, whereas benzaldehyde would not be.

Solubility in water

The small aldehydes and ketones are freely soluble in water but solubility falls
with chain length. For example, methanal, ethanal and propanone - the
common small aldehydes and ketones - are miscible with water in all
proportions.

The reason for the solubility is that although aldehydes and ketones can't
hydrogen bond with themselves, they canhydrogen bond with water
molecules.

One of the slightly positive hydrogen atoms in a water molecule can be

sufficiently attracted to one of the lone pairs on the oxygen atom of an
aldehyde or ketone for a hydrogen bond to be formed.

There will also, of course, be dispersion forces and dipole-dipole attractions

between the aldehyde or ketone and the water molecules.

Forming these attractions releases energy which helps to supply the energy
needed to separate the water molecules and aldehyde or ketone molecules
from each other before they can mix together.

As chain lengths increase, the hydrocarbon "tails" of the molecules (all the
hydrocarbon bits apart from the carbonyl group) start to get in the way.

By forcing themselves between water molecules, they break the relatively

strong hydrogen bonds between water molecules without replacing them by
anything as good. This makes the process energetically less profitable, and so
solubility decreases.
 Solubility in water

In the presence of water, the carboxylic acids don't dimerise.

Instead, hydrogen bonds are formed between water molecules
and individual molecules of acid.

The carboxylic acids with up to four carbon atoms will mix with
water in any proportion. When you mix the two together, the
energy released when the new hydrogen bonds form is much
the same as is needed to break the hydrogen bonds in the pure
liquids.

The solubility of the bigger acids decreases very rapidly with

size. This is because the longer hydrocarbon "tails" of the
molecules get between water molecules and break hydrogen
bonds. In this case, these broken hydrogen bonds are only
replaced by much weaker van der Waals dispersion forces.

Note: The similar case with the solubility of alcohols

is discussed in detail in the introduction to alcohols.
If you aren't happy about the effect of chain length
on solubility then it would definitely be worth
following this link.

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The energetics of dissolving carboxylic acids in water is made

more complicated because some of the acid molecules actually
react with the water rather than just dissolving in it. This is the
basis for the acidity of these compounds and is discussed on
another page.

Many carboxylic acids are colorless liquids with disagreeable odors. The carboxylic acids with 5 to 10

carbon atoms all have “goaty” odors (explaining the odor of Limburger cheese). These acids are also

produced by the action of skin bacteria on human sebum (skin oils), which accounts for the odor of

poorly ventilated locker rooms. The acids with more than 10 carbon atoms are waxlike solids, and

their odor diminishes with increasing molar mass and resultant decreasing volatility.
Carboxylic acids exhibit strong hydrogen bonding between molecules. They therefore have high

boiling points compared to other substances of comparable molar mass.

The carboxyl group readily engages in hydrogen bonding with water molecules (Figure 15.3 "Hydrogen

Bonding between an Acetic Acid Molecule and Water Molecules"). The acids with one to four carbon

atoms are completely miscible with water. Solubility decreases as the carbon chain length increases

because dipole forces become less important and dispersion forces become more predominant.

Hexanoic acid [CH3(CH2)4COOH] is barely soluble in water (about 1.0 g/100 g of water). Palmitic acid

[CH3(CH2)14COOH], with its large nonpolar hydrocarbon component, is essentially insoluble in water.

The carboxylic acids generally are soluble in such organic solvents as ethanol, toluene, and diethyl

ether.

Properties of carboxylic acids

Physical properties

Solubility in water
Carboxylic acids are soluble in water. Carboxylic acids do not dimerise in water, but forms hydrogen bonds with water. Carboxylic acids are polar and due to the pre
hydroxyl in the carboxyl group, they are able to form hydrogen bonds with water molecules. Smaller carboxylic acids (C1 to C5) are soluble in water, whereas larger c
acids (C6 and above) are less soluble due to the increasing hydrophobic nature of the hydrocarbon chains.

The boiling points of carboxylic acids increases as the molecules get bigger. Carboxylic acids have even higher boiling points then alkanes and
alcohols. Carboxylic acids, similar to alcohols, can form hydrogen bonds with each other as well as van der Waals dispersion forces and
dipole-dipole interactions. However, unique to carboxylic acids, hydrogen bonding can occur between two molecules to produce a dimer.

The presence of dimers increases the strength of the van der Waals dispersion forces, resulting in the high boiling points of carboxylic acids.

Acidity
Carboxylic acids are weak acids. They partially dissociates into H+ cations and RCOO- anions in neutral aqueous
such as water. E.g. at rtp, only 0.4% of ethanoic acid molecules dissociate in water.
Carboxylic Acids pKa

Formic acid / Methanoic acid (HCO2H) 3.77

Acetic acid / Ethanoic acid (CH3COOH) 4.76

Chloroacetic acid (CH2ClCO2H) 2.86

Dichloroacetic acid (CHCl2CO2H) 1.29

Trichloroacetic acid (CCl3CO2H) 0.65

Trifluoroacetic acid (CF3CO2H) 0.5

Oxalic acid (HO2CCO2H) 1.27

Benzoic acid (C6H5CO2H) 4.2

Carboxylic acids exhibit typical acidic properties, which means that they are able to react with some compounds.
1. react with alkali or base
E.g.
Word form equation: ethanoic acid + sodium hydroxide → sodium ethanoate + water
Molecular formula equation: CH3COOH + NaOH → CH3COONa + H2O
E.g.
Word form equation: ethanoic acid + copper(II) oxide → copper(II) ethanoate + water
Molecular formula equation: 2CH3COOH + CuO → (CH3COO)2Cu + H2O

2. react with carbonates

E.g.
Word form equation: ethanoic acid + calcium carbonate → calcium ethanoate + water + carbon dioxide
Molecular formula equation: 2CH3COOH + CaCO3 → (CH3COO)2Ca + H2O + CO2

3. react with metals

E.g.
Word form equation: ethanoic acid + calcium metal → calcium ethanoate + water
Molecular formula equation: 2CH3COOH + Ca → (CH3COO)2Ca + H2O
Odour
Carboxylic acids tend to have strong odours, especially those that are volatile. Common odours can be found in v
which contains ethanoic acid, and rancid butter, which contains butanoic acid. Esters of carboxylic acids tend to
pleasant odours, so they are usually used to make perfumes.

Chemical properties

Esterification
Carboxylic acids react with alcohols to form esters. More of this will be explained under Formation of esters