CARBOXYLIC ACID

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does carboxylic acid mean? 

• CARBOXYLIC ACID (noun)
  The noun CARBOXYLIC ACID has 1 sense:

1. an organic acid characterized by one or more carboxyl groups

  Familiarity information: CARBOXYLIC ACID used as a noun is very rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• CARBOXYLIC ACID (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

An organic acid characterized by one or more carboxyl groups

Classified under:

Nouns denoting substances

Hypernyms ("carboxylic acid" is a kind of...):

acid (any of various water-soluble compounds having a sour taste and capable of turning litmus red and reacting with a base to form a salt)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "carboxylic acid"):

acetic acid; ethanoic acid (a colorless pungent liquid widely used in manufacturing plastics and pharmaceuticals)

adipic acid; hexanedioic acid (a carboxylic acid used in the manufacture of nylon)

mucic acid (a solid acid (C6H10O8) found in milk or sugar)

octanedioic acid; suberic acid (a dicarboxylic acid found in cork)

succinic acid (a dicarboxylic acid (C4H6O4) active in metabolic processes)

saccharic acid (a white dicarboxylic acid formed from oxidation of sugar or starch)

decanedioic acid; sebacic acid (a dicarboxylic acid used to make resins)

sorbic acid (a white crystalline carboxylic acid used as a preservative)

pentanoic acid; valeric acid (a clear liquid carboxylic acid used in perfumes and drugs)

fatty acid (any of a class of aliphatic monocarboxylic acids that form part of a lipid molecule and can be derived from fat by hydrolysis; fatty acids are simple molecules built around a series of carbon atoms linked together in a chain of 12 to 22 carbon atoms)

benzoic acid (a white crystalline solid occurring in many resins)

propanoic acid; propionic acid (a liquid fatty acid found in milk and sweat and in fuel distillates)

lactic acid (a clear odorless hygroscopic syrupy carboxylic acid found in sour milk and in many fruits)

acrylic acid; propenoic acid (an unsaturated liquid carboxylic acid used in the manufacture of acrylic resins)

 Context examples 

This agent is metabolized by esterases in the blood and extravascular tissues to an inactive carboxylic acid metabolite.

(Clevidipine Butyrate Injectable Emulsion, NCI Thesaurus)

Carboxylic acids can be saturated, unsaturated, or aromatic.

(Carboxylic Acids, NLM, Medical Subject Headings)

Bile acids are steroid carboxylic acids derived from cholesterol in vertebrates.

(Bile Acid Biosynthesis Pathway, NCI Thesaurus/KEGG)

They also found other pyridine carboxylic acids at similar concentrations and, for the first time, found pyridine dicarboxylic acids.

(Vitamin B3 might have been made in space, delivered to Earth by meteorites, NASA)

A synthetic pyrrolizine carboxylic acid derivative with anti-inflammatory, analgesic, and antipyretic activities.

(Ketorolac, NCI Thesaurus)

A monovalent radical consisting of one hydrogen and oxygen atom found in bases, carboxylic acids, and alcohols.

(Hydroxyl Radical, NCI Thesaurus)

An aliphatic carboxylic acid, also known as enanthic acid, used in the synthesis of esters for products such as fragrances and artificial flavor preparations.

(Heptanoic Acid, NCI Thesaurus)

The tromethamine salt of ketorolac, a synthetic pyrrolizine carboxylic acid derivative with anti-inflammatory, analgesic and antipyretic properties.

(Ketorolac Tromethamine, NCI Thesaurus)

In the omega oxidation pathway, this carbon is progressively oxidized first to an alcohol and then to a carboxylic acid, creating a molecule with a carboxylic acid on both ends.

(Omega-Oxidation of Fatty Acids Pathway, NCI Thesaurus/BIOCARTA)

Cyclic esters of hydroxy carboxylic acids, containing a 1-oxacycloalkan-2-one structure, or analogues having unsaturation or heteroatoms replacing one or more carbon atoms of the ring (IUPAC).

(Lactone Compound, NCI Thesaurus)