Acyl chlorides: formation and reactions

In a nutshell

Acyl chlorides have the functional group ( $-COCl$ ). They are formed by reacting carboxylic acids with $SOCl_2$ and are able to undergo multiple reactions.

Equations

These are general chemical equations. You will need to be able to use these when you write equations for specific substances.

$acyl \space chloride \,+\,water \rightarrow carboxylic \space acid \,+ \, hydrogen\space chloride \\ \ \\acyl \space chloride \,+\,alcohol \rightarrow ester \,+ \, hydrogen\space chloride \\ \ \\acyl \space chloride \,+\,ammonia \rightarrow amide \,+ \,hydrogen\space chloride \\ \ \\acyl \space chloride \,+\,primary \space amine \rightarrow N-substituted \space amide \,+ \,hydrogen \space chloride \\ \ \\acyl \space chloride\,+\,phenol \rightleftharpoons ester\,+ \,hydrogen \space chloride \\ \ \\acid \space anhydride\, + \, alcohol \rightarrow ester \,+\, carboxylic \space acid$

Formation of acyl chlorides

Acyl chlorides are formed by reacting carboxylic acids with $SOCl_2$ . They have the suffix '-oyl chloride.' The $-OH$ from the carboxylic acid is replaced by $Cl$ from the $SOCl_2$ .