Alcohols

Alcohols are organic compounds containing a hydroxyl group, -OH, substituted for a hydrogen atom. The names of alcohols start with the name of the alkane but end with the suffix -ol, like the simplest alcohol, methanol.

methanol 甲醇

Ethanol is the alcohol in alcoholic beverages and it is also widely used as a solvent.

ethanol 乙醇

Alcohols can have more than one hydroxyl group. Ethylene glycol, used as antifreeze in automobiles, has two hydroxyl groups.

ethylene glycol 乙二醇

Methanol

Methanol, or methyl alcohol, is the simplest alcohol derived from the alkanes. Methanol is also called wood alcohol. It is poisonous if ingested, causing blindness by damage to the optic nerve. Methanol is often used to denature industrially produced ethanol to prevent it being used for drinking. Methanol is also used as a fuel in some types of racing cars. 甲醇，或甲基醇，是源自烷烃的最简单醇。甲醇也被称为木醇。如果误食，它会中毒，导致视力丧失，原因是损伤视神经。甲醇常用于使工业生产的乙醇失真，以防止其被用作饮用酒。甲醇也用作某些赛车的燃料。

Ethanol

Ethanol, or ethyl alcohol, is the alcohol used in alcoholic beverages and as a solvent in many drugs and food preparations. It mixes with water in any proportion and is the least toxic and most important of the alcohols. 乙醇，或乙基酒精，是用于酒精饮料以及许多药物和食品制备中的溶剂。它能与水以任意比例混合，并且是毒性最小、最重要的醇类之一。

It is often called grain alcohol because it can be prepared from grain by the action of yeast on the sugars in the grain in the process of fermentation. It is made synthetically by reacting ethene and water in the presence of sulfuric acid.