Amides, from acid derivatives physical properties

Selected physical properties of various methacrylate esters, amides, and derivatives are given in Tables 1—4. Tables 3 and 4 describe more commercially available methacrylic acid derivatives. A2eotrope data for MMA are shown in Table 5 (8). The solubiUty of MMA in water at 25°C is 1.5%. Water solubiUty of longer alkyl methacrylates ranges from slight to insoluble. Some functionalized esters such as 2-dimethylaniinoethyl methacrylate are miscible and/or hydrolyze. The solubiUty of 2-hydroxypropyl methacrylate in water at 25°C is 13%. Vapor—Hquid equiUbrium (VLE) data have been pubHshed on methanol, methyl methacrylate, and methacrylic acid pairs (9), as have solubiUty data for this ternary system (10). VLE data are also available for methyl methacrylate, methacrylic acid, methyl a-hydroxyisobutyrate, methanol, and water, which are the critical components obtained in the commercially important acetone cyanohydrin route to methyl methacrylate (11). 

Other reported derivatives of meadowfoam include dimer acids and amides. Dimer acids were synthesized (40) from meadowfoam fatty acids at 250°C using montmorillonite clay as a catalyst with a yield of 44%. The physical properties (viscosity and lubricity) of the dimer acids were similar to those of other dimer acids prepared from highly monounsaturated fatty acids. Simple amides were also made by reaction of ammonia with fatty acids in refluxing xylenes (41). 

In this chapter, we first introduce the system of naming carboxylic acids and then list some of their physical and spectroscopic characteristics. We then examine their acidity and basicity, two properties that are strongly influenced by the interaction between the electron-withdrawing carbonyl group and the hydroxy function. Methods for the preparation of the carboxy group are considered next, followed by a survey of its reactivity. Reactions of carboxylic acids will feature a new two-step substitution pathway, addition-elimination, for the replacement of the hydroxy group by other nucleophiles, such as halide, alkoxide, and amide. The chemistry of the carboxylic acid derivatives, which result from these transformations, is the subject of Chapter 20. 

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