C4H6O4 is the chemical formula of succinic acid. It can also be written as (C4O2H4)(OH)2. This article should discuss C4H6O4 + NaOH and some essential facts.
Succinic acid (C4H6O4) is a white-powered molecule. It has no characteristic smell. It is dibasic acid and the pka1 is 4.3 and pka2 is 5.6 respectively. The molecular weight of succinic acid is 118.088 g/mol.
The common method of synthesis of succinic acid will be catalytic hydrogenation of malonic acid or its ester. As it is a dibasic acid, so it can furnish two moles of monoacidic bases like sodium hydroxide (NaOH). It can prone to nucleophilic attack also.
What is C4H6O4 + NaOH?
C4H6O4 + NaOH both are chemical or molecular formulas. NaOH is the molecular formula of sodium hydroxide and C4H6O4 is for succinic acid.
Succinic acid is soluble in water very rapidly and it can ionize slowly as it is an organic acid. But sodium hydroxide is a very strong base and it can ionize rapidly to Na+ and OH–. Hydroxide is a very strong anion and it can abstract a proton from moderate acid-like succinic acid.
This reaction does not require any kind of catalyst as it is an acid-base reaction. In organic reactions, the acid-base reaction is very fast than other reactions. Though hydroxide can also behave as a nucleophile but here it is acts base only to complete the reaction in a faster way.
What is the product of C4H6O4 + NaOH?
Any acid when gets react with the base forms salt and water. Depending upon the nature of acid and base the character of salt will be formed. If the base is strong and the acid is weak then the salt is somewhat basic.
In this C4H6O4 + NaOH reaction, it is also an acid-base reaction so it is expected that here also the formation of salt and water occurs.
In the C4H6O4 + NaOH reaction at first sodium hydroxide gets ionized because it is an ionic molecule and also an inorganic base, so it ionizes rapidly to Na+ and OH–. Succinic acid ionizes very slowly as it is an organic compound but NaOH helps to abstract the proton from succinic acid.
As succinic acid is dibasic acid so we need two moles of sodium hydroxide to remove the two acidic protons from it. After reacting with two moles of sodium hydroxide with succinic acid it can form sodium succinate.
Two OH groups attached to the succinic acid molecule, these two H atoms are more acidic in succinic acid as it attached to electronegative atoms. So that H will replace easily with the help of sodium hydroxide. That hydroxide group is replaced but -ONa groups. Groups are not replaced when the counter ion of succinic acid H+ has been removed then the counter ion of Hydroxide in sodium hydroxide Na+ will be attached by electrostatic force.
There will be the formation of the water molecule as a side product which formed hydroxide of sodium hydroxide and H+ from succinic acid.
So C4H6O4 +NaOH gives the product sodium succinate (C4H4O4Na2) and water as a side product.
How to balance C4H6O4 + NaOH?
Every chemical reaction should be balanced properly by its stoichiometric value. Without proper balancing a reaction is not valid, because we can not understand how many reactions are needed to react how many other reactants, and how many the product we will get.
Let us balance the equation of C4H6O4 + NaOH,
C4H6O4 + NaOH = C4H4O4Na2 + H2O, we can see that this equation is not properly balanced. The left-hand side and right-hand side should be equal but here not.
So, the C4H6O4 + NaOH reaction should be balanced. There are many steps we should follow to balance a chemical reaction.
Step 1- Every individual molecule or compound is labeled as a, b, c, or x,y, or z depending on the number of molecules present in a reaction.
We use those labeled as the coefficient of every individual molecule with that variable to identify the unidentified coefficient of the molecule.
(A)C4H6O4 + (B) NaOH = (C) C4H4O4Na2 + (D) H2O
Step 2- We make some equations for number system
This equation is created by using suitable numbers of that coefficient for every element present in the reactant and product like carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, and sodium.
C = 4A = 4C
H = 6A + B = 4C + 2D
O = 4A + B = 4C + D
Na = B = 2C
Step 3- All the variables in the coefficient should be solved in various methods.
Solve all the variables of that coefficient via the Gauss elimination method or determination method.
Using Gauss elimination or substitution
4A – 4C = 0
6A + B – 4C – 2D = 0
4A + B – 4C – 2D = 0
B – 2C = 0
Using determination method
We use the row-level form of every coefficient of those variables.
( 4 0 -4 0 0)
( 6 1 -4 -2 0)
( 4 1 -4 -2 0)
( 0 1 -2 0 0)
( 1 1 -1 -1 6)
The last column of the resulting matrix will contain solutions for each of the coefficients.
Thus, the result shows the lowest integer value of those variables.
A = 1 (C4H6O4)
B = 2 (NaOH)
C = 1 (C4H4O4Na2)
D = 2 (H2O)
Step 4 – In the final step substitute the coefficients and verify the result of L.H.S. and R.H.S.
1 C4H6O4 + 2 NaOH = 1 C4H4O4Na2 + 2 H2O
| Atoms | L.H.S. | R.H.S. |
| C | 4 | 4 |
| H | 8 | 8 |
| O | 6 | 6 |
| Na | 2 | 2 |
So, C4H6O4 + 2NaOH = C4H4O4Na2 + 2H2O is a balanced equation and the left-hand side is also equal to the right-hand side.
So, the C4H6O4 + NaOH reaction now gets balanced properly.
What type of reaction is C4H6O4 + NaOH?
C4H6O4 + NaOH reaction is one kind of acid-base reaction. NaOH is a strong base here and it can easily abstract proton from succinic acid. So, the reaction follows an ionic pathway. NaOH is ionized first then it takes a proton from succinic acid and formed a salt sodium succinate along with water as a side product.
Conclusion
C4H6O4 + NaOH is an acid-base reaction between a strong base and dibasic organic acid. So the product will be a basic salt along with water and the mechanism goes through the ionic pathway. This reaction does not require any kind of catalyst.
Hi……I am Biswarup Chandra Dey, I have completed my Master’s in Chemistry from the Central University of Punjab. My area of specialization is Inorganic Chemistry. Chemistry is not all about reading line by line and memorizing, it is a concept to understand in an easy way and here I am sharing with you the concept about chemistry which I learn because knowledge is worth to share it.