L4 - Anhydrides

In Lesson 3, we explored how carboxylic acids are created from waste and alcohol and in Lesson 4 we esters and how they formed when carboxylic acids are further combined with alcohols to have -OH and -H functional groups on either end of the molecule.  Because of these ends, when they react with other substances, water is produced.  Water is often acceptable, but in the presence of water, there is only so many molecules that can produced.   In the past few decades scientists have learned how to remove that water during the reaction to produce other substances that have a wide range of applications, from food to fibreglass to pharmaceuticals, just to name a few.

In this lesson, we will be looking at anhydrides, which literally means "without water", and seeing how they are used and how they can be named.  For this course, it is recommended that you become comfortable with anhydrides as they will be revisited in Lesson 7 - Addition Polymers.

Consider the following questions as you complete this lesson:

• How are anhydrides formed and what are their uses?
• How do you properly name an anhydride?

Assignment

The assignment for this lesson is part of the Addition Polymers assignment in the next lesson.