Methanol
Methanol, also known as wood alcohol, is an organic chemical and the simplest aliphatic alcohol, with the formula CH3OH. It is a light, volatile, colourless, flammable liquid with a distinctive alcoholic odour similar to that of ethanol (potable alcohol). Today, methanol is mainly produced industrially by hydrogenation of carbon monoxide.
Historically, however, methanol was produced via destructive wood distillation. This involved gasifying the wood in a retort, then condensing the vapours to methanol. This would need to be fractionally distilled to remove tar, off-products, terpenes and water.
Uses
It is used as a precursor to other commodity chemicals, including formaldehyde, acetic acid, methyl tert-butyl ether, methyl benzoate, anisole, peroxyacids, as well as a host of more specialised chemicals.
Methanol is especially useful in the trans-esterfication of triglycerides into biodiesel. This process involves adding a strong base such as sodium or potassium hydroxide into methanol, adding the oil and then vigorously mixing. The methanol forms a temporary complex with the hydroxide in question that is able to liberate the ester of the triglyceride and supplant it with the methanol. This process liberates glycerine which is a useful byproduct.
Dependencies
See also
References
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