methanol monohydric alcohol

methanol, methyl alcohol, or wood alcohol, CH3OH, a colorless, flammable liquid that is miscible with water in all proportions.[url=http://www.lookchem.com/cas-67/67-56-1.html ]Methanol[/url]is a monohydric alcohol. It melts at −97.8°C and boils at 67°C. It reacts with certain acids to form methyl esters. Methanol is a fatal poison. Small internal doses, continued inhalation of the vapor, or prolonged exposure of the skin to the liquid may cause blindness. As a result, commercial use of methanol has sometimes been prohibited. Methanol is used as a solvent for varnishes and lacquers, as an antifreeze, and as a gasoline extender in the production of gasohol. Large amounts of it are used in the synthesis of formaldehyde. Because of its poisonous properties, methanol is also used as a denaturant for ethanol. Methanol is often called wood alcohol because it was once produced chiefly as a byproduct of the destructive distillation of wood. It is now produced synthetically by the direct combination of hydrogen and carbon monoxide gases, heated under pressure in the presence of a catalyst.
The simplest of alcohols. An [url=http://www.lookchem.com/cas-67/67-56-1.html ]Methanol[/url] group (OH) attached to a methyl group (CH3—) or CH3OH. This alcohol is by far more toxic than ethanol, its two carbon relative, and can produce multiple symptoms even at low exposure over a long period of time including blindness. When methanol loses a single hydrogen, it becomes the methyl group, as found in a methyl ester (CH3O—).
methyl alcohol; CH3−OH; the lowest member of the alkanols. It is a colourless, flammable, mobile, poisonous liquid, widely used as a solvent. Numerous esters and ethers of methanol occur naturally, especially in plants. Other names: wood alcohol; wood spirit; carbinol.