Absolute ethanol may inactivate microbes without destroying them because the alcohol is unable to fully permeate the microbe's membrane. A solution of 70% ethanol is more effective than pure ethanol because ethanol relies on water molecules for optimal antimicrobial activity. However, it is ineffective against bacterial spores, but that can be alleviated by using hydrogen peroxide. Ethanol kills microorganisms by dissolving their membrane lipid bilayer and denaturing their proteins, and is effective against most bacteria, fungi and viruses. Antiseptic Įthanol is used in medical wipes and most commonly in antibacterial hand sanitizer gels as an antiseptic for its bactericidal and anti-fungal effects. However, this use carried the high risk of deadly alcohol intoxication and pulmonary aspiration on vomit, which led to use of alternatives in antiquity, such as opium and cannabis, and later diethyl ether starting in the 1840s. Mild intoxication starts at a blood alcohol concentration of 0.03-0.05% and induces anesthetic coma at 0.4%. Main article: Alcohol (medicine) Anesthetic Įthanol is the oldest known sedative, used as an oral general anesthetic during surgery in ancient Mesopotamia and in medieval times. Before the late 18th century the term "alcohol" generally referred to any sublimated substance. The use of 'alcohol' for ethanol (in full, "alcohol of wine") is modern and was first recorded in 1753. It is a medieval loan from Arabic al-kuḥl, a powdered ore of antimony used since antiquity as a cosmetic, and retained that meaning in Middle Latin. 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 name ethanol was coined as a result of a resolution on naming alcohols and phenols that was adopted at the International Conference on Chemical Nomenclature that was held in April 1892 in Geneva, Switzerland. According to the Oxford English Dictionary, Ethyl is a contraction of the Ancient Greek αἰθήρ ( aithḗr, "upper air") and the Greek word ὕλη ( hýlē, "substance"). He coined the word from the German name Aether of the compound Cĥ (commonly called "ether" in English, more specifically called " diethyl ether"). The "eth-" prefix and the qualifier "ethyl" in "ethyl alcohol" originally come from the name "ethyl" assigned in 1834 to the group Cĥ− by Justus Liebig. Etymology Įthanol is the systematic name defined by the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry for a compound consisting of an alkyl group with two carbon atoms (prefix "eth-"), having a single bond between them (infix "-an-") and an attached −OH functional group (suffix "-ol"). As of 2006, world production of ethanol was 51 gigalitres (1.3 ×10 10 US gallons), coming mostly from Brazil and the U.S. Ethanol also can be dehydrated to make ethylene, an important chemical feedstock. It is used as a chemical solvent and in the synthesis of organic compounds, and as a fuel source. Historically it was used as a general anesthetic, and has modern medical applications as an antiseptic, disinfectant, solvent for some medications, and antidote for methanol poisoning and ethylene glycol poisoning. It is a psychoactive recreational drug, and the active ingredient in alcoholic drinks.Įthanol is naturally produced by the fermentation process of sugars by yeasts or via petrochemical processes such as ethylene hydration. Ethanol is a volatile, flammable, colorless liquid with a characteristic wine-like odor and pungent taste. Its formula can also be written as CH 3−CH 2−OH or C 2H 5OH (an ethyl group linked to a hydroxyl group). It is an alcohol with the chemical formula C 2H 6O. EtOH also called ethyl alcohol, grain alcohol, drinking alcohol, or simply alcohol) is an organic compound.
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