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Alcohols - Isomers.
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
which has the structural formula

Another isomer of propanol
called propan-2-ol
is
commonly 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.
Propan-1-ol is called a primary
alcohol because the O–H group is
joined
to a carbon atom which 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 which has two other carbon atoms
attached.
A tertiary
alcohol (see butanol) has the O–H group
joined
to a carbon atom which has three other carbon atoms
attached.
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