Methanol

Description

Methyl alcohol, also known as methanol or wood alcohol, is a clear, colorless, flammable liquid that is the simplest alcohol.
World production of methanol is approximately 8.5 billion gallons annually. Methanol is produced industrially, starting with the production of synthesis gas or syngas. Syngas used in the production of methyl alcohol is a mixture of carbon monoxide and hydrogen formed when natural gas reacts with steam or oxygen. Methyl alcohol is then synthesized from carbon monoxide and hydrogen.
Methyl alcohol is poisonous and is commonly used to denature ethyl alcohol. Methanol poisoning results from ingestion, inhalation of methanol vapors, or absorption through the skin. Methanol is transformed in the body to formaldehyde (H2CO) by the enzyme alcohol dehydrogenase.The formaldehyde is then metabolized to formic acid (HCOOH)by aldehyde dehydrogenase.

Description

Methanol (MeOH), the simplest alcohol, is widely used as a solvent, motor fuel, ethanol denaturant, and, most of all, a feedstock for manufacturing other chemicals. It was originally made by the destructive distillation of wood—hence, the once commonly used name “wood alcohol”.
Methanol is miscible with water and with almost every other organic solvent. It is colorless, volatile, flammable, and poisonous. During Prohibition, many people died from drinking methanol-laced liquor.
Methanol is an old chemical, but it still makes news. K. Rajeshwar and colleagues at the University of Texas, Arlington, recently developed a?process that uses solar power to make methanol?from CO2?.

Description

Methanol is a common solvent with a wide variety of uses in organic chemistry.

The Uses of Methanol

Methylalcohol, CH30H, also known as methanol or wood alcohol, is a colorless, toxic, flammable liquid with a boiling point of 64.6 °C(147 °F). The principal toxic effect is on the nervous system,particularly the retinae. Methyl alcoholis miscible in all proportions with water,ethyl alcohol, and ether. It burns with a light blue flame producing water and carbon dioxide. This vapor forms an explosive mixture(6.0 to 36.5% by volume) with air. Methyl alcohol is an important inexpensive raw material that is synthetically produced for the organic chemical industry. Nearly half of the methyl alcohol manufactured is used in the production of formaldehyde. Other uses of methyl alcohol are as an antifreeze and fuel for automobiles and as an intermediate in the production of synthetic protein.

The Uses of Methanol

To a solution of the SM (25.0 g, 127.4 mmol) in MeOH (100 mL) was added a catalytic amount of H2SO4 (~10 drops). The mixture was refluxed overnight, after which time it was concentrated to remove MeOH and diluted with DCM (250 mL). The mixture was washed with H2O (5 x 20 mL), brine (20 mL), dried (Na2SO4), and concentrated in vacuo to provide the product as an orange oil. [25.77 g, 96%]