Methanol

Become a Premium Member today!

Monohydric alcohol (also known as carbinol, methyl alcohol, wood alcohol, wood spirit) is a colourless, burning-tasting liquid with an unmistakable, sweetish odour. Although it differs significantly from ethanol (potable alcohol), it can hardly be recognised in terms of taste due to overlapping with other flavourings in alcoholic beverages. Even the ancient Egyptians produced methanol by pyrolysis (splitting organic compounds at high temperatures above 200 °C) of wood and embalmed their dead with a mixture of substances. It was given the name "methylene" in 1834 by the French chemists Jean-Baptiste Dumas (1800-1884) and Eugène-Melchior Péligot (1811-1890), which is made up of "méthy" for wine and "hylé" for wood. Methanol itself is of low toxicity, but its metabolic products are toxic, especially formaldehyde (methanal).

To read the full text, you must be a Premium Member of wein.plus. You are currently not logged in to wein.plus. Become a Premium Member or log in with your credentials .

Become a Premium Member of wein.plus

Voices of our members

As honorary chairman of the Domäne Wachau, it is the easiest and quickest way for me to access the wein.plus encyclopaedia when I have questions. The certainty of receiving well-founded and up-to-date information here makes it an indispensable guide.
Hans-Georg Schwarz
Ehrenobmann der Domäne Wachau (Wachau)

	Unlimited access to wine knowledge: Over 150,000 independent wine reviews, the world's largest wine encyclopaedia and extensive specialist articles in wein.plus magazine.
	eBook wein.plus magazine
	Exclusive purchase discounts: Benefit from attractive offers and discounts from our partners - exclusively for Premium members.
	Ad-free reading experience: Enjoy all content without adverts or tracking.

	Maximum visibility: Present your wines and your company to over 200,000 wine lovers and professionals from the catering and retail sectors - with pinpoint accuracy and without wastage.
	More sales through find+buy: Increase your online sales with direct purchase links to your wines on Europe's largest wine platform.
	Valuable business benefits: Benefit from business framework agreements, save money on services and partner offers and use exclusive services such as free bottle photos and marketing seals.
	eBook wein.plus magazine

You can also use our powerful search function with many flexible filters, such as:

Wine tastings

Wine producers

Wine regions

find+buy wine search engine

Business directory wine

Places

Lexicon

News & stories

Events

Methanol

To read the full text, you must be a Premium Member of wein.plus. You are currently not logged in to wein.plus. Become a Premium Member or log in with your credentials .

Voices of our members

The world's largest Lexicon of wine terms.

EVENTS NEAR YOU

Welcome back!

You can also use our powerful search function with many flexible filters, such as:

Wine tastings

Wine producers

Wine regions

find+buy wine search engine

Business directory wine

Places

Lexicon

News & stories

Events

Methanol

To read the full text, you must be a Premium Member of wein.plus. You are currently not logged in to wein.plus. Become a Premium Member or log in with your credentials .

Voices of our members

The world's largest Lexicon of wine terms.

EVENTS NEAR YOU

wein.plus

Your approval is required – if you are not a Premium Member

Read with advertising

Consent:

... or become a Premium Member

Enjoy wein.plus without advertising and tracking by third parties!

Our Private Premium Membership offers you:

Our Business Premium membership offers you:

Your approval is required –
if you are not a Premium Member