Sodium hydroxide nomenclature

In the days of alchemy and the phlogiston theory, no system of nomenclature that would be considered logical ia the 1990s was possible. Names were not based on composition, but on historical association, eg, Glauber s salt for sodium sulfate decahydrate and Epsom salt for magnesium sulfate physical characteristics, eg, spirit of wiae for ethanol, oil of vitriol for sulfuric acid, butter of antimony for antimony trichloride, Hver of sulfur for potassium sulfide, and cream of tartar for potassium hydrogen tartrate or physiological behavior, eg, caustic soda for sodium hydroxide. Some of these common or trivial names persist, especially ia the nonchemical Hterature. Such names were a necessity at the time they were iatroduced because the concept of molecular stmcture had not been developed, and even elemental composition was incomplete or iadeterminate for many substances. 

Nomenclature of Carboxylic Acid Salts Salts of carboxylic acids are named simply by naming the cation, then naming the carboxylate ion by replacing the -ic acid part of the acid name with -ate. The preceding example shows that sodium hydroxide reacts with acetic acid to form sodium acetate. The following examples show the formation and nomenclature of some other salts ... 

It is general practice to express the chemical concentration used for pulping as a percentage of the effective alkali charge of sodium hydroxide (or Na20) based on oven-dry wood, or as the effective alkali as sodium hydroxide in g 1 . This nomenclature is given here, not because it is necessary to know it in detail, but rather because it is desirable to know its background and use by industry. 

Interestingly, the salts of carboxylic acids, utilize the same nomenclature system. Thus, conversion of ethanoic acid (acetic acid, CH3CO2H) to its sodium salt (with, e.g., aqueous sodium hydroxide, NaOH) produces water and sodium ethanoate (sodium acetate, CHsCOi Na" ). Furthermore, when the (RCO2-) group must be named as a substituent, it is called the acyloxy or R-carbonyloxy group. 

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