What is the simplest alcohol, with formula CH3OH?

The simplest alcohol, with formula CH3OH, is methanol.

Methanol is the smallest and simplest aliphatic alcohol: one carbon atom is bonded to three hydrogen atoms and to a hydroxyl group. It is also called methyl alcohol or wood alcohol. The formula is sometimes written CH4O, but CH3OH makes the alcohol functional group especially clear.

The name “wood alcohol” comes from an older manufacturing method in which wood was heated without enough oxygen, producing a liquid mixture that could be processed for methanol. Modern industrial production mainly uses synthesis gas, with carbon monoxide and hydrogen converted into methanol over a catalyst. It is produced on a very large scale as a chemical feedstock.

Methanol is colorless, volatile and flammable, and it boils at about 64.7°C. Unlike ethanol, the alcohol found in beverages, methanol is highly toxic: the body converts it into poisonous compounds that can cause blindness, severe illness or death. Common mix-ups include ethanol, which has formula C2H5OH, and longer alcohols such as propanol and butanol. Methanol is used to make formaldehyde, acetic acid, solvents and fuels.