480 CONSIDERATION OF CARBON COMPOUNDS. 



methyl alcohol ; for instance, ethyl alcohol may be called methyl-carbinol. 



Alcohols correspond in their composition to the hydroxides of 

 inorganic substances ; both classes of compounds containing hydroxyl, 

 OH, which, in the case of alcohols, is in combination with radicals 

 containing carbon and hydrogen, in the case of inorganic hydroxides 

 with metals, as, for instance, in potassium hydroxide, KOH. 



If we represent any hydrocarbon radical by E, the general formula 

 of the alcohols will be : 



Monatomic alcohol. Diatomic alcohol. Triatomic alcohol. 



/OTT /OH 



Ki OH RJi<^ Riii OH 



^ OH ~ \OH 



or 



Kii(OH) 2 



corresponding to 



KOH CaW(OH) 2 Bim(OH) 3 . 



Of the many reactions which justify our views regarding the 

 structure of alcohols, a few may be mentioned. We believe that 

 hydroxyl exists in metallic hydroxides, because they can be made by 

 the action of metals on water, and similarly, by acting with potassium 

 on an alcohol, we obtain a potassium compound and free hydrogen : 



Also, when we act on a metallic hydroxide with an acid a salt is 

 formed and water produced ; the corresponding reaction takes place 

 between alcohols and acids : 



K.OH + HC1 = KC1 + H 2 0, 

 CH 3 .OH + HC1 = CH 3 C1 + H 2 O. 



Many other reactions might be mentioned which furnish proof 

 that each oxygen atom contained in an alcohol molecule is in com- 

 bination with an atom of hydrogen i. e., that alcohols are hydroxides 

 of hydrocarbon radicals. 



Occurrence in nature. Alcohols are not found in nature in a free 

 or uucombined state, but generally in combination with acids as com- 

 pound ethers, Some plants,, for instance, contain compound ethers 



