Methanol

About This Product

Methanol (methyl alcohol, MeOH; formula CH4O; CAS 67-56-1) is the simplest alcohol. It is a clear, colourless liquid that evaporates readily and smells mildly of alcohol; it boils at about 65 °C and blends in any proportion with water and with most organic solvents.

Production starts from synthesis gas, a blend of carbon monoxide and hydrogen made from natural gas or coal. Few organic chemicals are made in larger volumes, because so many value chains begin with methanol: oxidation gives formaldehyde for resins, carbonylation gives acetic acid, reaction with isobutylene gives MTBE and, in China above all, it is also turned into ethylene and propylene.

Two hazards set the rules for handling it. The first is toxicity. Once taken up, methanol is metabolised to formaldehyde and then formic acid, which bring on metabolic acidosis and attack the optic nerve; swallowing even a small quantity can lead to blindness, and breathing the vapour or absorbing it through the skin adds to the dose. The second is fire. Methanol burns with a pale flame that can hardly be seen in daylight, so fire detection in storage and transfer areas has to be designed with that in mind.

Beyond formaldehyde, resins and acetic acid, buyers convert it to methylamines, use it to dissolve and extract materials in pharmaceutical and chemical plants, blend it into antifreeze and screenwash where local rules permit, and employ it as a denaturant. BG Petro Chemicals offers methanol at a minimum purity of 99 percent in 160 kg drums or ISO tanks, and sets out the full limits for water, acidity, distillation range and permanganate time with each quotation. It travels as UN 1230, Class 3 (6.1), PG II. Highly flammable, and toxic whether swallowed, inhaled or absorbed through the skin, it must be handled in line with the safety data sheet.