Many kind of alcohols chemical Man
To MOST PEOPLE ,alcohol is the strong stuff in beer, wine, and hard liquor. But to a chemist, this is just one of many alcohols. Alcohols may be considered hydrocarbons in which one or more hydrogen (H) atoms are replaced by
hydroxy] (OH) groups. Their names are made up from the names of the hydrocarbons to which they are related by giving these an *"-ol" ending. In this way,CH„methane, becomes CH3OH, methanol (also called methyl alcohol); C2H6 ethane, becomes C2H5OH, ethanol (also known as ethyl or grain al-cohol)and so on. Methanol (CH3OH) was originally called wood alcohol because it was made by the de-structive distillation of wood. It is very poisonous and is therefore used to "denature" ethanol, making this unfit for drinking. S Ethanol (C2H5OH) is produced today, to a great extent, in the same way in which it was made thou-sands of years ago, by a process called fermentation. In this, the tiny plant cells of yeast are made to grow in the solution of a simple sugar, such as glucose (C6H,j06). In growing, the yeast cells give off a sub-stance called zymase. This acts as a catalyst and turns the glucose into ethanol and carbon dioxide:
GSHHOS•—2C2H5OH + 2C02 j The ethanol is finally separated from the watery liquid by distillation. Glycerol (CJH5(OH)J)is still another alcohol which you probably know better under the name of glycerin. Glycerol may be considered a product of propane (CjH6) in which not one but three H atoms have been replaced by OH.
Leave a comment