∞ generated and posted on 2016.12.04 ∞
Organic molecule where a hydroxyl group is chemically bonded to a carbon atom.
The simplest of alcohols (simple alcohols) consist of just a single hydroxyl group with every other chemical bond a carbon or hydrogen. Examples of such alcohols are ethanol and methanol.
Figure legend: Shown are three representations of a generalized alcohol with single bonds indicated using either dashes or colons. Note that the carbon atom (C) is participating in four single bonds, one (1) with oxygen, one (2) with the indicated radical or R group (which could be many carbon-containing things but also just a hydrogen atom), one (3) hydrogen atom that is not shown, and another single bond (4) that could be either to a second R group or instead a hydrogen atom (not shown).