Neodecanoic acid

Neodecanoic acid is a mixture of carboxylic acids with the common chemical formula C₁₀H₂₀O₂. NDA is a colorless liquid with a relatively low vapor pressure and it's widely used in industrial synthesis processes. As mixture of constitutional isomers, we can identify some properties shared with trialkyl acetic acid by the following isomers:

2,2,3,5-Tetramethylhexanoic acid
2,4-Dimethyl-2-isopropylpentanoic acid
2,5-Dimethyl-2-ethylhexanoic acid
2,2-Dimethyloctanoic acid
2,2-Diethylhexanoic acid

Properties

Acidity

The proton of the carboxyl group of Neodecanoic acid can be separated with the reaction proceeding as follows:
With R being any aliphatic groups with 9 carbon atoms. Thanks to the release of the proton Neodecanoic acid have a weak acidic character. Being a monoprotic acid, it has only one dissociation, with the pK_a of the strongest acid form valued at 5.17.