:Amyl alcohol

Amyl alcohols are alcohols with the formula C₅H₁₁OH.Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary 11th Ed. 2004 Eight are known. A mixture of amyl alcohols (also called amyl alcohol) can be obtained from fusel alcohol. Amyl alcohol is used as a solvent and in esterification, by which is produced amyl acetate and other products. The name amyl alcohol without further specification applies to the normal (straight-chain) form, 1-pentanol.{{cite book |doi=10.1002/14356007.a01_279|chapter=Alcohols, Aliphatic|title=Ullmann's Encyclopedia of Industrial Chemistry|year=2000|last1=Falbe|first1=Jürgen|last2=Bahrmann|first2=Helmut|last3=Lipps|first3=Wolfgang|last4=Mayer|first4=Dieter|isbn=3527306730}}

class="wikitable sortable" \|+Amyl alcohol isomers
Common name	Structure	Type	IUPAC name	Boiling point (°C)Calculated boiling points from ChemSpider.
1-pentanol or normal amyl alcohol \| 150px \| primary \| Pentan-1-ol \| 138.5
2-methyl-1-butanol or active amyl alcohol \| 120px \| primary \| 2-Methylbutan-1-ol \| 128.7
3-methyl-1-butanol or isoamyl alcohol or isopentyl alcohol \| 120px \| primary \| 3-Methylbutan-1-ol \| 131.2
2,2-dimethyl-1-propanol or neopentyl alcohol \| 100px \| primary \| 2,2-Dimethylpropan-1-ol \| 113.1
2-pentanol or sec-amyl alcohol or methyl (n) propyl carbinol \| 100px \| secondary \| Pentan-2-ol \| 118.8
3-methyl-2-butanol or sec-isoamyl alcohol or methyl isopropyl carbinol \| 80px \| secondary \| 3-Methylbutan-2-ol \| 113.6
3-Pentanol \| 100px \| secondary \| Pentan-3-ol \| 115.3
2-methyl-2-butanol or tert-amyl alcohol \| 100px \| tertiary \| 2-Methylbutan-2-ol \| 102

class="wikitable sortable"

|+Amyl alcohol isomers

Common name

Structure

Type

IUPAC name

Boiling point (°C)Calculated boiling points from ChemSpider.

1-pentanol
or normal amyl alcohol

| 150px

| primary

| Pentan-1-ol

| 138.5

2-methyl-1-butanol
or active amyl alcohol

| 120px

| primary

| 2-Methylbutan-1-ol

| 128.7

3-methyl-1-butanol
or isoamyl alcohol
or isopentyl alcohol

| 120px

| primary

| 3-Methylbutan-1-ol

| 131.2

2,2-dimethyl-1-propanol
or neopentyl alcohol

| 100px

| primary

| 2,2-Dimethylpropan-1-ol

| 113.1

2-pentanol
or sec-amyl alcohol
or methyl (n) propyl carbinol

| 100px

| secondary

| Pentan-2-ol

| 118.8

3-methyl-2-butanol
or sec-isoamyl alcohol
or methyl isopropyl carbinol

| 80px

| secondary

| 3-Methylbutan-2-ol

| 113.6

3-Pentanol

| 100px

| secondary

| Pentan-3-ol

| 115.3

2-methyl-2-butanol
or tert-amyl alcohol

| 100px

| tertiary

| 2-Methylbutan-2-ol

| 102

Three of these alcohols, 2-methyl-1-butanol, 2-pentanol, and 3-methyl-2-butanol (methyl isopropyl carbinol), contain stereocenters, and are therefore chiral and optically active.

The most important amyl alcohol is isoamyl alcohol, the chief one generated by fermentation in the production of alcoholic beverages and a constituent of fusel oil. The other amyl alcohols may be obtained synthetically.

References

Category:Alkanols

Category:GABAA receptor positive allosteric modulators