Ethanol The Fuel In Waiting Summary

The main factors of this article called “Methanol--the fuel in Waiting” explains how Methanol could both have positive and negative effects in the environment and the economy. The article discusses how methanol could be another alternative to gasoline and it is a made from natural gas, which makes it easier to make and use. Methanol (see Figure 1) is that it is the simplest alcohol with a chain of one carbon atom with three hydrogen atoms attached. The characteristics of this simple alcohol are that it is a light, volatile, and flammable liquid with a unique odor very similar to ethanol. Unlike ethanol, methanol is a highly toxic chemical and should be used cautiously because it causes negative reactions when exposed to other reagents such as lead. Methanol
Methanol is a primary alcohol because it is bonded with one alkyl group, so it means that it can be oxidized to either aldehydes or carboxylic acids, depending on the reaction condition, but in this reaction formaldehyde is formed which is an aldehyde. The reaction (see Figure 2) forms an aldehyde because the used an excess of the alcohol, this means that there is not enough oxidizing agent present.
CH3OH + [O] ==> HCHO + H2O

Figure 2

Dehydration
Dehydration occurs in methanol when combining two molecules by removing water. The reaction below shows that methanol is reacting with Dimethyl Sulfate to remove water from the two molecules.
2 CH3OH + H2SO4 ==> (CH3)2SO4 + H2O

Substitution
This reaction occurs when a hydrogen atom is replaced by a different functional group. In this reaction in shows that methanol is reacting with sodium and forms a sodium methoxide and a hydrogen because the functional group is replaced by another functional group.
2 CH3OH + 2 Na ==> 2CH3ONa + H2

Elimination