What is "carboxylate"

carboxylate \car*box"yl*ate\ v. t. to treat a chemical compound with carboxyl or carboxylic acid.

n. (context organic chemistry English) Any salt or ester of a carboxylic acid. vb. 1 (context organic chemistry English) To form a carboxyl group by introduction of carbon dioxide 2 (context organic chemistry English) To react with a carboxylic acid

v. treat (a chemical compound) with carboxyl or carboxylic acid

A carboxylate is a salt or ester of a carboxylic acid. Carboxylate salts have the general formula M(RCOO), where M is a metal and n is 1, 2,...; carboxylate esters have the general formula RCOOR′. R and R′ are organic groups; R′ ≠ H.

A carboxylate ion is the conjugate base of a carboxylic acid, RCOO. It is an ion with negative charge.