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What are the Isomers of Propanol?

There are different isomers of the alcohols
propanol, butanol and pentanol.
The two isomers of propanol are shown below.

Propanol (C₃H₇OH) is commonly represented by the molecule
propan-1-ol, a primary alcohol, which has the structural formula

Another isomer of propanol called propan-2-ol is
a secondary alcohol represented by the structural formula

where the single lines between the
atoms represent single covalent bonds.

Note that each carbon atom has four bonds (valency 4),
each oxygen atom has two bonds (valency 2)
and each hydrogen atom has one bond (valency 1).
Valency is the combining power of an atom.

What is a Primary, Secondary or Tertiary Alcohol?

Propan-1-ol is called a primary alcohol because
the O–H group is joined to a carbon atom
that has only one other carbon atom attached.

Propan-2-ol is called a secondary alcohol because
the O–H group is joined to a carbon atom
that has two other carbon atoms attached.

A tertiary alcohol (see butanol) has
the O–H group joined to a carbon atom
that has three other carbon atoms attached.

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