PROPYL ALCOHOLS (C3H7OH). Two compounds of this formula exist as explained in the article Alcohol. Normal propyl alcohol, CH3·CH2·CH2·OH, was obtained in 1853 by G. C. B. Chancel, by submitting fusel oil to fractional distillation. It may be prepared by any of the methods applicable to primary alcohols. It is an agreeable-smelling liquid, boiling at 97.4° C., and miscible with water in all proportions. It cannot be separated from water by fractional distillation, since it forms a mixture of constant boiling point (see Distillation). Oxidation converts it into prop ionic acid. It is distinguished from ethyl alcohol by its insolubility in a cold saturated calcium chloride solution.
Iso-propyl alcohol (CH3)2CHOH, was obtained by M. P. E. Berthelot in 1855 by heating the addition compound of propylene and sulphuric acid with water, and in 1862 by C. Friedel by the reduction of acetone. It is a colourless liquid boiling at 82.7° C.