Question

Malic acid, C4H6O5, has been isolated from apples. Because this compound reacts with 2 molar equivalents of base, it is a dicarboxylic acid.

(a) Draw at least five possible structures.
(b) If malic acid is a secondary alcohol, what is its structure?

Answer 1

Answer and explanation:

The attached figure shows five different structures for the chemical formula C4H5O5, but only one of these structures represent the malic acid.

Malic acid is a dicarboxylic acid, this means malic acid has two

-COOH groups. Also, malic acid is a secundary alcohol, which means it has a R2-C-OH group.

-Structure A has two carboxylic groups, but it doesn´t have a secundary alcohol.

-Structure B doesn´t have any caborxylic group.

-Structure C has two carboxylic groups and it is a secundary alcohol. Structure C is the Malic acid