290
edits
Changes
Jump to navigation
Jump to search
Line 1:
Line 1: − #REDIRECT [[Alcoholic drinks]]+ + + + + + + +
Ethanol, and further alcohols to be reviewed.
For [[Alcoholic drinks]] please see the specific article.
Alcohols are a group of organic compounds consisting of a hydrocarbon or group with an -OH group; C<sub>n</sub>H<sub>2+1</sub>OH.
Commonly, the word alcohol refers to ethanol (C<sub>2</sub>H<sub>5</sub>OH), which is the predominant alcohol found in [[alcoholic drinks]]. Ethanol is produced by yeast during the [[anerobic]] [[metabolism]], comparable to the production of [[lactic acid]] in [[mammals]].
==Methanol==
Methanol consists of a single carbon atom, with three hydrogen atoms and a -OH. Traditionally, methanol was produced by the fermentation of wood, leading to the term 'wood alcohol'. Industrially, methanol can be produced by the reaction of [[carbon monoxide]] and [[hydrogen]] (CO + 2 H<sub>2</sub> = CHO<sub>3</sub>OH). The primary use of methanol is its addition to ethanol to make it undrinkable.