Q45 E - Chemistry (OpenStax)

Question

Fatty acids are carboxylic acids that have long hydrocarbon chains attached to a carboxylate group. How does a saturated fatty acid differ from an unsaturated fatty acid? How are they similar?

Step-by-Step Solution

Answer

Both types of fatty acids have the same functional group –COOH.

Saturated and unsaturated fatty acids differ in the number of bonds between the carbon atoms.

Step 1: Fatty acid

Fatty acids are the organic compounds that contain –the COOH group as their functional group. Based on the nature of the hydrocarbon, they can be classified into two categories. One is saturated fatty acids, and the other is unsaturated fatty acids.

Step 2: Explanation

But, saturated fatty acids have all saturated C-C bonds, which means all C-C bonds are σ,  bonds.

On the other hand, in unsaturated fatty acids, there is at least one unsaturated double bond present in the alkyl chain, but there can be more than one, depending on the fatty acid.