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2,6-lutidine is judged to have the most horrid smell to humankind
- Thread starter KingNothing
- Start date
KingNothing
Diamond Member
By the way ethyl alcohol (not sure if that's what's used in alcoholic drinks or not) is C2H6O if anyone wants to tell me the name for that.
KingNothing
Diamond Member
The nerds at Rennsalad Polytechnic Institute, obviously.
KingNothing
Diamond Member
So what does C2H6O translate to?
KingNothing
Diamond Member
I was hoping for something along the lines of dihydrogen monoxide.
minendo
Elite Member
SarcasticDwarf
Diamond Member
oh no, the oil that is in the base of 20 year old washing machines that is exposed to air for the first time smells much worse
although the smell of burned rat hair is damn close
Alcohols all have the OH / hydroxy group attached to a carbon. Nitpicking: Of course, carboxylic acids fit that bill, but the carbonyl group attached to that carbon re-classifies it.
Alcohol, in common usage, is ethyl alcohol / ethanol / hydroxyethane (if you prefer IUPAAC naming standards).
Yes, 2,6-lutidine is pretty stinky stuff - very potent and can literally make a person step back from you with just a faint sniff - though concentrated ammonia will do that just as well. It's commonly used as a sterically hindered, basic catalyst.
IMHO, there are plenty of other amines that smell bad and I'd just lump 2,6-lutidine in with them.
Alcohol, in common usage, is ethyl alcohol / ethanol / hydroxyethane (if you prefer IUPAAC naming standards).
Yes, 2,6-lutidine is pretty stinky stuff - very potent and can literally make a person step back from you with just a faint sniff - though concentrated ammonia will do that just as well. It's commonly used as a sterically hindered, basic catalyst.
IMHO, there are plenty of other amines that smell bad and I'd just lump 2,6-lutidine in with them.
WinkOsmosis
Banned
What is isopropyl? Can you drink it?
NogginBoink
Diamond Member
You can. But it would be deleterious to your health.
vegetation
Diamond Member
I got some purified valeric acid on my finger tips once, it's a horrible smell that gets absorbed into your skin, so you can't even take it off.
NogginBoink
Diamond Member
Okay, let's see... it's been a LOOOONG time since I've had organic chemistry, let's see what the old brain cells will do here...
CH3CH2OH
That would be...
ethanol. That would be the complete organic chemical name.
This is a straight-chain hydrocarbon, with one alcohol group (-ol). Because there are only two carbon atoms in the chain, you don't need any numbers to indicate where in the chain the alcohol group is.
If it were a longer chain, you would need a number to indicate to which carbon atom the alcohol group is attached. For instance, I can make three alcohol groups from a five-carbon chain:
CH2OH-CH2-CH2-CH2-CH3 (Would be 1-pentanol, I believe)
CH3-CHOH-CH2-CH2-CH3 (Would be 2-pentanol, I believe)
CH3-CH2-CHOH-CH2-CH3 (Would be 3-pentanol, I believe)
Then it gets more complex if it's not a straight chain:
C-C-C-C
***|
***COH
Would have the same number of atoms, but have a totally different name. (Oh boy... would it be... uh... 2-methol butane? That's a WAG, BTW.)
In any case, the answer to your original question is that the complete organic chemical name for drinking alcohol is Ethanol. Ethanol is not a shorthand for a more complex/complete name, ethanol is the complete name.
Edit: I needed asterisks to move the lower chain from the left margin. And changed 1-methol to 2-methol.
Edit again: In my example above, you wouldn't need the number 2 to indicate where the methol group attached, since there's only one place for it to attach. (If it attached to the end of the chain, it becomes a straight chain pentanol.)
CH3CH2OH
That would be...
ethanol. That would be the complete organic chemical name.
This is a straight-chain hydrocarbon, with one alcohol group (-ol). Because there are only two carbon atoms in the chain, you don't need any numbers to indicate where in the chain the alcohol group is.
If it were a longer chain, you would need a number to indicate to which carbon atom the alcohol group is attached. For instance, I can make three alcohol groups from a five-carbon chain:
CH2OH-CH2-CH2-CH2-CH3 (Would be 1-pentanol, I believe)
CH3-CHOH-CH2-CH2-CH3 (Would be 2-pentanol, I believe)
CH3-CH2-CHOH-CH2-CH3 (Would be 3-pentanol, I believe)
Then it gets more complex if it's not a straight chain:
C-C-C-C
***|
***COH
Would have the same number of atoms, but have a totally different name. (Oh boy... would it be... uh... 2-methol butane? That's a WAG, BTW.)
In any case, the answer to your original question is that the complete organic chemical name for drinking alcohol is Ethanol. Ethanol is not a shorthand for a more complex/complete name, ethanol is the complete name.
Edit: I needed asterisks to move the lower chain from the left margin. And changed 1-methol to 2-methol.
Edit again: In my example above, you wouldn't need the number 2 to indicate where the methol group attached, since there's only one place for it to attach. (If it attached to the end of the chain, it becomes a straight chain pentanol.)