Large  number of carboxylic
acids are found in nature Some higher members of aliphatic carboxylic
acids (C12 – C18) known as fatty acids, occur in natural fats as esters of
glycerol Carboxylic acids serve as starting material for several other
important organic compounds such as anhydrides, esters, acid chlorides,
amides, etc Since carboxylic acids are amongst the earliest organic compounds to
be isolated from nature, a large number of them are known by their
common names