Alcohols: structures, water and uses

The alcohol functional group

Alcohols contain an –OH functional group bonded to a carbon atom. The first four named members are methanol, ethanol, propanol and butanol. The straight-chain examples here have the OH group at the end of the chain. Their condensed formulae are CH₃OH, CH₃CH₂OH, CH₃CH₂CH₂OH and CH₃CH₂CH₂CH₂OH. Oxygen forms two bonds: one to carbon and one to hydrogen.