The Lewis Structure of Glycolic Acid
Glycolic acid, its English name is Glycolic Acid, in order to clarify its Lewis structure, it is necessary to understand its molecular composition. The chemical formula of glycolic acid is $C_ {2} H_ {4} O_ {3} $.

In terms of atomic bonding laws, carbon atoms usually form 4 covalent bonds, hydrogen atoms form 1 covalent bond, and oxygen atoms generally form 2 covalent bonds. In glycolic acid molecules, there are two carbon atoms. One of the carbon atoms is connected to the oxygen atom of a hydroxyl group (OH), and at the same time is connected to the oxygen atom of a carbonyl group (C = O), and is also connected to the other carbon atom, and the remaining one is connected to the hydrogen atom; the other carbon atom is connected to the two hydrogen atoms and the first carbon atom mentioned above, and is also connected to the oxygen atom of a hydroxyl group.

When drawing its Lewis structure, first arrange the atoms in a reasonable connection. Use the carbon atom as the skeleton core and connect the other atoms in turn. For the oxygen atom, if it is hydroxyl oxygen, one pair of electrons bonds with the hydrogen atom, and the other three pairs of lone pairs of electrons are distributed around the oxygen atom; if it is carbonyl oxygen, it forms a double bond with the carbon atom, and the two pairs of lone pairs of Hydrogen atoms are simply connected to connected atoms by single bonds, without solitary pairs of electrons. In this way, the Lewis structure of glycolic acid can be accurately presented through the reasonable arrangement of bonds between atoms and solitary pairs of electrons, thus clearly showing the connection mode and electron distribution of atoms in the molecule, which is of great significance for in-depth understanding of the chemical properties and reaction mechanism of glycolic acid.