Just to confuse matters a little bit, the simplest example of a phenol, C 6 H 5 OH, is named phenol. Sorry, you must enable Javascript and then reload the page for the calculator to work. Alcohols are generally hygroscopic , meaning that they often contain a fair amount of water. This can be particularly dangerous if you are working with an alcohol and a water-reactive metal such as sodium or potassium. Alcohols are generally incompatible with acids and other oxidizing agents .
Many alcohols are flammable .
Some, such as methanol, burn with an almost invisible flame, so be very careful to avoid heat, flame or other ignition sources and make sure you have a proper fire extinguisher on hand. This chemical similarity with water means that alcohols can readily penetrate your skin. Phenols are particularly dangerous in this regard as many are not only irritants , but are also fairly toxic . Budding organic chemists might want to visit R. H. Logan's web page on alcohols or this one at ThinkQuest.org . This page is copyright 2000-2001 by ILPI .