primary alcohol
Quick Summary
Primary alcohols are organic compounds characterized by a hydroxyl group (-OH) attached to a carbon atom that is itself bonded to only one other carbon atom. This means the carbon atom bearing the -OH group has two hydrogen atoms attached.12
Primary alcohols can be oxidized to aldehydes, and further to carboxylic acids. This is in contrast to secondary alcohols, which oxidize to ketones, and tertiary alcohols, which resist oxidation without breaking carbon-carbon bonds.3
Commercially important primary alcohols include methanol, used as a solvent and fuel, and ethanol, found in beverages and used as fuel. Simple primary alcohols like methanol and ethanol can undergo dehydration to form ethers, a process that is economically viable for producing ethyl ether, a common industrial solvent.14
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