Number of Acids Like Sands on A Seashore

 

On Sunday, March 24, 2024, I wrote an article entitled:

“My Childhood & Teenage Journey into My Golden Years in Life” in this link below:

https://scientificlogic.blogspot.com/2024/

There, if you follow the story of my teenage years, I jokingly asked my sister who was two years older than me how many acids there are. I was then in Form 1 in school, and she was in Form 3 from a separate school. I challenged her over this question. I cheekily told her there were 6, but she insisted there were only 3, namely, nitric, sulphuric and hydrochloric acids.

In that article I promised I would be more truthful, and that I shall write another article where there are actually untold millions of acids, mainly organic acids with just about ten mineral or inorganic acids as example below.

 Here is the list of 10 inorganic acids matching 10 organic acids.

 

Inorganic acids:

1. Hydrochloric acid (HCl)
2. Sulfuric acid (H2SO4)
3. Nitric acid (HNO3)
4. Phosphoric acid (H3PO4)
5. Carbonic acid (H2CO3)
6. Hydrofluoric acid (HF)
7. Hydrobromic acid (HBr)
8. Perchloric acid (HClO4)
9. Sulfurous acid (H2SO3)
10. Boric acid (H3BO3)

Organic acids:

1. Acetic acid (CH3COOH)
2. Citric acid (C6H8O7)
3. Lactic acid (C3H6O3)
4. Formic acid (HCOOH)
5. Oxalic acid (H2C2O4)
6. Tartaric acid (C4H6O6)
7. Malic acid (C4H6O5)
8. Succinic acid (C4H6O4)
9. Benzoic acid (C6H5COOH)
10. Ascorbic acid (Vitamin C) (C6H8O6)

These lists are not exhaustive, and there are many other inorganic and organic acids with various properties and applications. Additionally, within organic acids, there are countless derivatives and variations depending on the organic compound they are derived from.

Any organic compound with acidic properties can be classified as an organic acid. The most common organic acids are the carboxylic acids, whose acidity is associated with their carboxyl group –COOH. Sulfonic acids, containing the group –SO2OH, are relatively stronger acids. Alcohols, with –OH, can act as acids but they are usually very weak. The relative stability of the conjugate base of the acid determines its acidity.

Other groups can also confer acidity, usually weakly: the thiol group –SH, the enol group, and the phenol group. In biological systems, organic compounds containing these groups are generally referred to as organic acids. A few common examples include lactic acid, acetic acid, formic acid, citric acid, oxalic acid, uric acid. malic acid, tartaric acid, butyric acid, folic acid.

There also other carboxylic acids such as glycolic, propionic, acrylic, propiolic, lactic, 3-hydropropionic, glyceric, pyruvic, 3-oxopropanoic, malonic, tartronic, 2,2-dihydroxpropanedioic, mesoxalic, glycidic, butanoic. (E)-but-2-enoic, (Z)-but-2enoic, 2-methylpropenoic, but-3-enoic, but-2-ynoic, 2-3-4-hydroxybutanoic, 2-3-4 oxobutanoic, … etc, etc and hundreds more of these more organic acids far too long to name them all. This is because organic compounds run into hundreds of millions due to 4 carbon chains that can link to hydrogen or other elements in any configurations or structures such as into benzene ring compounds or in straight aliphatic chains or repeats as polymers.

Organic acids encompass a vast array of compounds, far more than the limited list I provided. Carboxylic acids constitute a significant portion of organic acids, but there are indeed many other groups and compounds that exhibit acidic properties within the realm of organic chemistry.

The diversity of organic compounds, including their various functional groups and structural configurations, leads to an immense variety of organic acids. These can range from simple monocarboxylic acids like acetic acid to more complex molecules such as folic acid or various derivatives of carboxylic acids with different substituents or functional groups.

It underscores the richness and complexity of organic chemistry, where the potential for discovering new organic acids and understanding their properties is practically limitless.

Once again, any organic compound with acidic properties can be classified as an organic acid. The most common organic acids are the carboxylic acids, whose acidity is associated with their carboxyl group –COOH. Sulfonic acids, containing the group –SO₂OH, are relatively stronger acids. Alcohols, with –OH, can act as acids but they are usually very weak. The relative stability of the conjugate base of the acid determines its acidity. Other groups can also confer acidity, usually weakly: the thiol group –SH, the enol group, and the phenol group. In biological systems, organic compounds containing these groups are generally referred to as organic acids.

A few common examples include lactic acid, acetic acid, formic acid, citric acid, oxalic acid, uric acid. malic acid, tartaric acid, butyric acid, folic acid. There also other carboxylic acids such as glycolic, propionic, acrylic, propiolic, lactic, 3-hydropropionic, glyceric, pyruvic, 3-oxopropanoic, malonic, tartronic, 2,2-dihydroxpropanedioic, mesoxalic, glycidic, butanoic. (E)-but-2-enoic, (Z)-but-2enoic, 2-methylpropenoic, but-3-enoic, but-2-ynoic, 2-3-4-hydroxybutanoic, 2-3-4 oxobutanoic, … etc, etc and hundreds more of these more organic acids far too long to name them all.  This is because organic compounds run into hundreds of millions due to 4 carbon chains that can link to hydrogen or other elements in any configurations or structures such as into benzene ring compounds or in straight aliphatic chains or repeats as polymers.

The above are just examples of the vast, vast amounts of organic acids in particular that can run into tens of million different kinds, and not just 3 or 6 we learn in school when we were only 17 to 19 years old in Form 3 to Form 5

I promised I shall write on this subject later so that my gentle readers here are not confused to think there are only 3 types of acids. I was just joking to tease my older sister then. We were only kids then.

Later after I left school, I studied Chemistry as one of my Bachelor’s degrees, and went on to study Food Quality Control for my Master of Science degree that involved specialized Analytical Chemistry among many other scientific disciplines such as food microbiology, food chemistry, food science, food technology, etc.

Lim ju boo