Maleic acid

Maleic acid is the cis isomer of butenedioic acid, with two carboxyl groups attached to the same side of a carbon–carbon double bond. It is used in chemical synthesis and resin production.

Fumaric acid: Fumaric acid is the trans isomer of butenedioic acid, with carboxyl groups on opposite sides of its carbon–carbon double bond. Its trans geometry gives a direct comparison for maleic acid’s cis structure and properties.
Unsaturated polyester resin: An unsaturated polyester resin is a polymerizable resin made from unsaturated acids or anhydrides and polyols. Maleic-derived units provide carbon–carbon double bonds that enable resin cross-linking.
Butenedioic acid: Butenedioic acid is a dicarboxylic acid with a carbon–carbon double bond; its geometric isomers are maleic acid and fumaric acid. Maleic acid is the cis member of this two-isomer family.
Apples: Apples are the edible fruits of Malus domestica and contain several naturally occurring organic acids. Maleic acid’s name derives from Latin malum, meaning apple, though apples are not its principal commercial source.
Fumaric acid salts: Fumarates are salts and esters of fumaric acid, the trans geometric isomer of maleic acid. They derive from the trans isomer and therefore are not maleates, despite their closely related names.
Maleic anhydride: Maleic anhydride is a cyclic anhydride formed by removing water from maleic acid. Heating maleic acid readily produces this commercially important dehydration product.
Maleate: A maleate is a salt or ester derived from maleic acid. Maleates are useful derivatives in formulations, chemical synthesis, and polymer production.
Cis–trans isomerism: Cis–trans isomerism describes compounds whose groups lie on the same or opposite sides of a restricted bond or ring. This naming convention captures the defining spatial arrangement of maleic acid’s carboxyl groups.
Carl Wilhelm Scheele: Carl Wilhelm Scheele was an eighteenth-century Swedish-German chemist who isolated and studied numerous chemical substances. Scheele is credited with discovering maleic acid in the eighteenth century.
Succinic acid: Succinic acid is a saturated four-carbon dicarboxylic acid with no carbon–carbon double bond. It shares maleic acid’s carbon count and two carboxyl groups but lacks its alkene.

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