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2-Pentanol (
IUPAC The International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC ) is an international federation of National Adhering Organizations working for the advancement of the chemical sciences, especially by developing nomenclature and terminology. It is ...
name: pentan-2-ol; also called ''sec''-amyl alcohol) is an organic
chemical compound A chemical compound is a chemical substance composed of many identical molecules (or molecular entities) containing atoms from more than one chemical element held together by chemical bonds. A molecule consisting of atoms of only one element ...
. It is used as a
solvent A solvent (from the Latin language, Latin ''wikt:solvo#Latin, solvō'', "loosen, untie, solve") is a substance that dissolves a solute, resulting in a Solution (chemistry), solution. A solvent is usually a liquid but can also be a solid, a gas ...
and an intermediate in the manufacturing of other chemicals. 2-Pentanol is a component of many mixtures of
amyl alcohol Amyl alcohols are alcohols with the formula C5H11OH. Eight are known. A mixture of amyl alcohols (also called amyl alcohol) can be obtained from fusel alcohol. Amyl alcohol is used as a solvent and in esterification, by which is produced amy ...
s sold industrially. 2-Pentanol is
chiral Chirality () is a property of asymmetry important in several branches of science. The word ''chirality'' is derived from the Greek language, Greek (''kheir''), "hand", a familiar chiral object. An object or a system is ''chiral'' if it is dist ...
and thus can be obtained as either of two
stereoisomers In stereochemistry, stereoisomerism, or spatial isomerism, is a form of isomerism in which molecules have the same molecular formula and sequence of bonded atoms (constitution), but differ in the three-dimensional orientations of their atoms i ...
designated as (''R'')-(−)-2-pentanol and (''S'')-(+)-2-pentanol. 2-Pentanol has been detected in fresh
bananas A banana is an elongated, edible fruit – berry (botany), botanically a berry – produced by several kinds of large treelike herbaceous flowering plants in the genus ''Musa (genus), Musa''. In some countries, cooking bananas are called pla ...
by
gas chromatography–mass spectrometry Gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC–MS) is an analytical method that combines the features of gas-chromatography and mass spectrometry to identify different substances within a test sample. Applications of GC–MS include drug detectio ...
, at an abundance of 14.26±2.63 ppm.


Reactions

2-Pentanol can be manufactured by hydration of
pentene Pentenes are alkenes with the chemical formula . Each molecule contains one double bond within its molecular structure. Six different compounds are in this class, differing from each other by whether the carbon atoms are attached linearly or in ...
.


See also

* ''sec''-Amyl acetate *
3-Pentanol 3-Pentanol is one of the eight isomers of amyl alcohol. It is found naturally and has a role as a pheromone A pheromone () is a secreted or excreted chemical factor that triggers a social response in members of the same species. Pheromones are ...


References

Alcohol solvents Alkanols {{alcohol-stub