74 Biological Chemistry. 



CH 3 CH 2 -CH 2 OH to CH 3 CH 2 - CH 2 CH 2 OH, and (iso- 

 propyl) ^ 8 \CHOH to ^ 3 ^>CH CH 2 OH. Butyl al- 

 cohol would be obtained from propyl and 'isobutyl from 

 isopropyl alcohol. By such reactions it would be, there- 

 fore, possible to assign the correct formulae to the two 

 primary butyl alcohols, as the two propyl alcohols from 

 which they are derived can be readily distinguished from 

 one another in that one is a primary and the other a 

 secondary alcohol. As the reactions involved entail a 

 knowledge of other classes of organic compounds, they 

 will be discussed later (p. 128). 



To summarize, the simplest members of the alcohol 

 group are substances containing an alkyl radicle and a 

 hydroxyl radicle, and may be represented by a general 

 formula R - OH. The oxygen is regarded as being 

 directly united to one carbon atom of the alkyl radicle 

 and to one hydrogen which differs from all the other 

 hydrogen atoms. They yield as first products of oxidation 

 classes of compounds knoivn as aldehydes or ketones, the 

 oxidation products obtained varying according to whether 

 the alcohols are of primary, secondary, or tertiary character. 



The following are some of the more important members 

 of the series : 



