An amyl alcohol is any of eight

alcohols In chemistry, an alcohol is a type of organic compound that carries at least one hydroxyl () functional group bound to a saturated carbon atom. The term ''alcohol'' originally referred to the primary alcohol ethanol (ethyl alcohol), which is ...

with the formula C₅H₁₂O. A mixture of

amyl Amyl may refer to: * Amylum or starch, a carbohydrate ** Amylopectin, a polymer of glucose found in plants; one of two components of starch ** Amylose, a helical polymer made of α-D-glucose units; one of two components of starch * Pentyl, a five- ...

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 important products. The name ''amyl alcohol'' without further specification applies to the normal (straight-chain) form,

1-pentanol 1-Pentanol, (or ''n''-pentanol, pentan-1-ol), is an alcohol with five carbon atoms and the molecular formula C5H11OH.CRC Handbook of Chemistry and Physics 65Th Ed. 1-Pentanol is a colourless liquid with a distinctive aroma. It is the straight-ch ...

. These are the 8 alcohols that are

structural isomer In chemistry, a structural isomer (or constitutional isomer in the IUPAC nomenclature) of a chemical compound, compound is another compound whose molecule has the same number of atoms of each element, but with logically distinct chemical bond, b ...

s with molecular formula C₅H₁₂O: : Three of these alcohols, 2-methyl-1-butanol, 2-pentanol, and 3-methyl-2-butanol (methyl isopropyl carbinol), are therefore

optically active Optical rotation, also known as polarization rotation or circular birefringence, is the rotation of the orientation of the plane of polarization about the optical axis of linearly polarized light as it travels through certain materials. Circul ...

. 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

{{DEFAULTSORT:Amyl Alcohol Alkanols GABAA receptor positive allosteric modulators