Carboxylic acids

In general carboxylic acids are named with the suffix -oic acid (etymologically a back-formation from benzoic acid). Similar to aldehydes, they take the “1” position on the parent chain, but do not have their position number indicated. For example, CH₃CH₂CH₂CH₂COOH (valeric acid) is named pentanoic acid. For common carboxylic acids some traditional names such as acetic acid are in such widespread use they are considered retained IUPAC names, although “systematic” names such as ethanoic acid are also acceptable. For carboxylic acids attached to a benzene ring such as Ph-COOH, these are named as benzoic acid or its derivatives.

If there are multiple carboxyl groups on the same parent chain, the suffix “-carboxylic acid” can be used (as -dicarboxylic acid, -tricarboxylic acid, etc.). In these cases, the carbon in the carboxyl group does not count as being part of the main alkane chain. The same is true for the prefix form, “carboxyl-“. Citric acid is one example; it is named 2-hydroxypropane- 1,2,3-tricarboxylic acid, rather than 3-carboxy-3-hydroxypentanedioic acid.