29-08-2017, 12:54 PM
Methanol also known as methyl alcohol, among others, is a chemical with the formula CH3OH (often abbreviated MeOH). Methanol became known as "wood alcohol" because it was once produced primarily as a by-product of destructive distillation of wood. Today, industrial methanol is produced in a catalytic process directly from carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide and hydrogen.
Methanol is the simplest alcohol, with only one methyl group being attached to a hydroxyl group. It is a light, volatile, colorless, flammable liquid with a distinctive odor very similar to that of ethanol (drinking alcohol). However, unlike ethanol, methanol is highly toxic and unfit for consumption. At room temperature, it is a polar liquid, and is used as an antifreeze, solvent, fuel and as a denaturant for ethanol. It is also used to produce biodiesel through the transesterification reaction.
Methanol occurs naturally in the anaerobic metabolism of many varieties of bacteria, and is commonly present in small amounts in the environment. As a result, the atmosphere contains a small amount of methanol vapor. But in just a few days, atmospheric methanol is oxidized by sunlight to produce carbon dioxide and water.
Methanol is also found in abundant amounts in the star-forming regions of space, and is used in astronomy as a marker for such regions. It is detected through its spectral emission lines.
Methanol when drunk is first metabolised into formaldehyde and then into formic acid or formate salts. These are toxic to the central nervous system and can result in blindness, coma and death. Because of these toxic properties, methanol is often used as a denaturing additive for ethanol made for industrial uses. This addition of methanol exempts industrial ethanol (commonly known as "denatured alcohol" or "methylated alcohol") from excise duty in the United States and some other countries.
Catalytic conversion of methane into methanol has long been sought as a route to methanol. This route is effected by enzymes such as methane monooxygenase, but commercial routes remain evasive due to the tendency to over-oxidation, ie, methanol oxidizes more easily than methane.
Methanol is the simplest alcohol, with only one methyl group being attached to a hydroxyl group. It is a light, volatile, colorless, flammable liquid with a distinctive odor very similar to that of ethanol (drinking alcohol). However, unlike ethanol, methanol is highly toxic and unfit for consumption. At room temperature, it is a polar liquid, and is used as an antifreeze, solvent, fuel and as a denaturant for ethanol. It is also used to produce biodiesel through the transesterification reaction.
Methanol occurs naturally in the anaerobic metabolism of many varieties of bacteria, and is commonly present in small amounts in the environment. As a result, the atmosphere contains a small amount of methanol vapor. But in just a few days, atmospheric methanol is oxidized by sunlight to produce carbon dioxide and water.
Methanol is also found in abundant amounts in the star-forming regions of space, and is used in astronomy as a marker for such regions. It is detected through its spectral emission lines.
Methanol when drunk is first metabolised into formaldehyde and then into formic acid or formate salts. These are toxic to the central nervous system and can result in blindness, coma and death. Because of these toxic properties, methanol is often used as a denaturing additive for ethanol made for industrial uses. This addition of methanol exempts industrial ethanol (commonly known as "denatured alcohol" or "methylated alcohol") from excise duty in the United States and some other countries.
Catalytic conversion of methane into methanol has long been sought as a route to methanol. This route is effected by enzymes such as methane monooxygenase, but commercial routes remain evasive due to the tendency to over-oxidation, ie, methanol oxidizes more easily than methane.