Carboxylic Acids

BTW, used to be on here all the time, now can't find my account soooo... no newbie welcomes are necessary, still nice though, lol

This cat -- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michel_Chevreul -- worked with soaps, so he was working with carboxylic acids (whether he knew it or not).






Are you also searching for carboxylate? That might broaden your search a bit -- but good luck; I don't think people care much for the history of these things, just the implications.

Generally Carbolic acids are of a form of an organic group (R) attached to a acid COOH. The simplist is formic acid HCOOH and is found in insect bites. Originally it was obtained from the distillation of ants and was one of the first organic molecules synthesized in a laboratory (shortly after urea).

Acidic acid (vinegar) is a carbolic acid with a methane group (R-CH3).

Simple soaps in general are carbolic acids with long chain aliphatic organic groups attached that have been reacted with a sodium to replace the acidic hydrogen ion on the acid end. This allows the soap to work as a bridge between nonpolar and the polar materials. That is, the polar end (-COONa ) of the carbolic acid is soluble in polar water and the long chain aliphatic organic (R-) is soluble in a nonpolar greases (dirt). Problems come in limiting solubility of sodium ions when compared to other ions and the sodium salts come out of solution---resulting in the peverbial bathtub rind. Detergents solve this problem by replacing the sodium ion on carboxylic acid= with a magnesium ion.

As for the discovery they predate history. Legend has it that soaps were discovered when rendering fats over a wood fire--acidic fats provided the carbolic acids and the wood ash provided sodium in the form of lye). This legend also says that soap making is mankinds second oldest chemical process. The first being the fermentation of sugars to alcohol. The order of discovery adds to the proposition that mankind would rather be drunk than clean.

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