Succinic Acid [CAS: 110-15-6] is a white, odorless, solid crystalline powder used in the manufacturing process of certain industrial materials and food products. It is also known as amber acid and by its IUPAC name butanedioic acid. Succinic Acid is a 4-carbon dicarboxylic acid with a number of practical applications in today’s manufacturing marketplace.
Succinic acid is used as a chemical intermediate for the manufacture of plastics, resins, coatings, and downstream chemical derivatives in multiple industries. Succinic acid is also used as an intermediate in the production of pharmaceuticals. Its dicarboxylic acid functionality is useful in organic synthesis as symmetrical reaction points for other reagents. Succinic acid is synthetically produced from maleic anhydride, an upstream chemical intermediate that is structurally very similar to succinic anhydride.
Succinic Anhydride [CAS: 108-30-5] is a product of the dehydration reaction of succinic acid. When succinic acid is dehydrated, it loses the elements of water (H2O), leaving a lone oxygen on the molecule in need of an electron acceptor to balance its charge. That charged oxygen atom then bonds to the other end of the molecule, forming the closed ring structure that gives succinic anhydride unique polarized properties.
Succinic anhydride is considered a polar molecule because of the close proximity of the three oxygen atoms at the top of the molecule. These oxygen atoms pull electron density towards themselves and away from the carbon atoms at the base. Because of this polarity, succinic anhydride is used as a chemical intermediate for downstream chemical derivatives in many applications such as the manufacture of plastics, resins, coatings, and certain pharmaceutical products.
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