Question

What are alcohols? State their sources.

Answer 1

Hint: We need to know that in simple words, we can say that alcohols are chemical molecules with a carbon atom bonded to the hydroxyl functional group (\[{\text{ - OH}}\]). Alcohols are a diverse group of chemicals with several scientific, medicinal, and industrial applications. Alcohols can hydrogen bond because they have a -OH group. When compared to their parent alkanes, this results in greater boiling points. The nature of alcohol is polar.

Complete answer:
We have to know that alcohol can be defined as any of a class of organic compounds that have one or more hydroxyl (\[{\text{ - OH}}\]) groups attached to an alkyl group's carbon atom (hydrocarbon chain). Alcohols are organic derivatives of water (\[{{\text{H}}_{_{\text{2}}}}{\text{O}}\]) in which one of the hydrogen atoms has been replaced by an alkyl group, which in organic structures is typically represented by \[{\text{R}}\].
For example, in ethanol (or ethyl alcohol) the alkyl group is the ethyl group, \[{\text{C}}{{\text{H}}_{\text{2}}}{\text{C}}{{\text{H}}_{\text{3}}}\].
According to which carbon of the alkyl group is bonded to the hydroxyl group, alcohols are classified as primary, secondary, or tertiary.
Sources of alcohol:
Simple alcohol like methanol is obtained from the distillation of wood. And the other simple alcohol ethanol is obtained from fermentation of sugar.
The sources of larger, more complicated alcohols are often isolated from volatile oils of plants by the process of steam distillation. The volatile oils are transported over by the steam, condensed, and separated from the water after the plant material is boiled in water.
Natural sources of alcohol include cholesterol, which is found in most animal tissues (and particularly abundant in egg yolks), and retinol (vitamin A alcohol), which is extracted from fish liver oils.

Note:
We should note that alcohols are among the most common organic compounds. They are utilized as sweeteners and in the manufacture of perfumes, as well as being important intermediates in the synthesis of other compounds. They are also among the most widely produced organic chemicals in industry. Perhaps the two best-known alcohols are ethanol and methanol (or methyl alcohol). Ethanol is used in pharmaceuticals, and fuels, and it is used to sterilize hospital instruments.