Reactivity of Alcohols

the molecule. The boiling point will also increase somewhat with increased molecular size.

Alcohols can also have hydrogen bonding with water, making alcohols with one to three carbon atoms miscible with water. As the length of the carbon atom chain increases, the solubility decreases so that alcohols like 1-decanol will be completely insoluble with water.

REACTIVITY OF ALCOHOLS

Methanol synthesis can occur by mixing hydrogen gas (H2) and carbon monoxide (CO). This will create CH3OH using zinc oxide and chromium oxide as catalysts. Methanol is used in automotive fuel (in racing cars and gasoline additives). Others are made by the hydration of alkenes. This is how ethanol is made; ethylene is made through hydration with sulfuric acid (H2SO4) as a catalyst. Similarly, propylene or propene can be hydrated to make isopropyl alcohol through hydration.

As you may know, there is another way to make alcohol or ethanol. It is made through the fermentation of starches or sugars from different sources, including rice, wheat, corn, and potatoes. There are enzymes that break down sugar starches into glucose that is further broken down enzymatically into two molecules of ethanol (CH3CH2OH) plus 2 CO2 molecules.

Methanol, unlike ethanol, is extremely toxic to humans with a fatal dose of between 100 and 150 milliliters. This is toxic because of the presence of liver enzymes that oxidize methanol into formaldehyde, which is more toxic than the methanol itself. Formaldehyde coagulates proteins, with lethal consequences. You should know that ethanol is also oxidized by liver enzymes to make acetaldehyde. This gets further oxidized to acetic acid and finally to CO2 and water.

Chemical reactions with alcohols generally occur with respect to the OH functional group. There are three major types of reactions that occur with alcohols; these are oxidation, dehydration, and esterification.