or methyl alcohol or wood alcohol
Simplest of the 3 OH. Once produced by destructive distillation of wood, it is now usually made from the methane in natural gas.
Methanol is an important industrial material; its derivatives are used in great quantities for making a vast number of compounds, among them many important synthetic dyes, resins, drugs, and perfumes. It is also used in automotive antifreezes, in rocket fuels, and as a solvent. It is flammable and explosive. A clean-burning fuel, it may substitute (at least in part) for gasoline . It is also used for denaturation of {{link=ethanol">ethanol . A violent poison, it causes blindness and eventually death when drunk.