Ethanol, also known as ethyl alcohol, grain alcohol, drinking alcohol, or simply alcohol, is an organic compound with the chemical formula CH3CH2OH. It is a volatile, flammable, colorless liquid with a wine-like odor and pungent taste. Ethanol is a psychoactive recreational drug and active ingredient in alcoholic drinks. It is naturally produced through the fermentation process of sugars by yeasts or via petrochemical processes like ethylene hydration. Ethanol has historical applications as an anesthetic, antiseptic, disinfectant, solvent for some medications, and antidote for methanol poisoning and ethylene glycol poisoning. It is used as a chemical solvent, in the synthesis of organic compounds, and as a fuel source. Ethanol can be dehydrated to make ethylene, an important chemical feedstock. As of 2006, the world production of ethanol was 51 gigalitres, mainly from Brazil and the U.S. Ethanol is a systematic name defined by the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry for a compound consisting of an alkyl group with two carbon atoms, having a single bond between them and an attached −OH functional group. The term alcohol now refers to a wider class of substances in chemistry nomenclature, but in common parlance it remains the name of ethanol.
The CAS Number of Ethanol is 64-17-5
The Molecular Formula of Ethanol is C2H6O
The Molecular Mass of Ethanol is 46.07
The SMILES Notation of Ethanol is CCO
The InChI Notation of Ethanol is InChI=1S/C2H6O/c1-2-3/h3H,2H2,1H3