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 It was originally made by the destructive distillation of wood鈥攈ence, the once commonly used name 鈥渨ood alcohol鈥�.
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聽聽from CO2听.
MOTW update:
October 14, 2024
Methanol1聽is a widely used solvent, motor fuel, ethanol denaturant, and especially a feedstock for manufacturing other chemicals.
Methanol is toxic: During Prohibition, many people died from drinking methanol-laced liquor; and this type of poisoning is still widespread today. Recently, Douglas J. Lanska at the University of Wisconsin鈥揗adison and others reported that . The principal culprits are formaldehyde and formic acid, which are produced by the action of liver enzymes on methanol. These metabolites can cause eye and brain damage and metabolic acidosis.
1. CAS Reg. No. 503612-47-3.
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