Introducing Alcohol

In chemistry, any member of a group of organic chemical compounds characterized by the presence of one or more aliphatic OH (hydroxyl) groups in the molecule, and which form esters with acids. The main uses of alcohols are as solvents for gums, resins, lacquers, and varnishes; in the making of dyes; for essential oils in perfumery; and for medical substances in pharmacy. The alcohol produced naturally in the fermentation process and consumed as part of alcoholic beverages is called ethanol. When consumed the effects of alcohol include poisoning at high concentrations, and changes in the functioning of human nerve cells. general formula C n H 2n+1 OH methanol ethanol propanol butanol pentanol hexanol write their formulae and draw structures

highlighted items increase by CH 2

Discuss Any obvious trends in this data?

secondary alcohol primary alcohol

Alcohols may be liquids or solids, according to the size and complexity of the molecule. A monohydric alcohol contains only one hydroxyl group in each molecule. The five simplest alcohols form a series in which the number of carbon and hydrogen atoms in the molecule increases progressively, each one having an extra CH 2 (methylene) group: methanol or wood spirit (methyl alcohol, CH 3 OH); ethanol (ethyl alcohol, C 2 H 5 OH); propanol (propyl alcohol, C 3 H 7 OH); butanol (butyl alcohol, C 4 H 9 OH); and pentanol (amyl alcohol, C 5 H 11 OH). The lower alcohols are liquids that mix with water; the higher alcohols, such as pentanol, are oily liquids immiscible with water; and the highest are waxy solids – for example, hexadecanol (cetyl alcohol, C 16 H 33 OH) and melissyl alcohol (C 30 H 61 OH), which occur in sperm-whale oil and beeswax, respectively. Alcohols containing the CH 2 OH group are primary; those containing CHOH are secondary; while those containing COH are tertiary. Checked + correct, Mr G

Functional group isomerism 2-butanol 1-butanol

Functional group isomerism 2-pentanol 3-pentanol

alcohol burning

e combustion of alcohol CH 3 OH C 2 H 5 OH H2OH2O CO 2 O2O2 C 3 H 7 OH C 4 H 9 OH

e combustion of alcohol CH 3 OH C 2 H 5 OH H2OH2O CO 2 O2O2 C 3 H 7 OH C 4 H 9 OH

e sodium + alcohol CH 3 OH C 2 H 5 OH H2H2 ONa Na C 3 H 7 OH C 4 H 9 OH

e sodium + alcohol CH 3 OH C 2 H 5 OH H2H2 ONa Na C 3 H 7 OH C 4 H 9 OH

acid + alcohol CH 3 OH C 2 H 5 OH C 3 H 7 OH C 4 H 9 OH CH 3 COOH HCOOH CH 3 COOC 2 H 5 H2OH2O Ester.png

The mechanism for the formation of ethyl ethanoate A reminder of the facts Ethanoic acid reacts with ethanol in the presence of concentrated sulphuric acid as a catalyst to produce the ester, ethyl ethanoate. The reaction is slow and reversible. To reduce the chances of the reverse reaction happening, the ester is distilled off as soon as it is formed.

Notice, the acid OH group marked in green ends up as the free water molecule DO NOT LEARN THIS...TOO COMPLEX But its interesting! YES?