More information: Jijia Xie et al, Methane oxidation to ethanol by a molecular junction photocatalyst, Nature (2025). DOI: 10.1038/s41586-025-08630-x ...

Most alcohols are toxic, but some animals (including us humans) are able to metabolize low doses of ethanol, a molecule produced by yeast (Saccharomyces cerevisiae) as it digests plant materials.

ethanol or propanol, are added to water, they mix easily to produce a solution. However, the solubility decreases as the length of the alcohol molecule gets longer, so butanol is less soluble than ...

Since the C=O came from the parent acid, there were four carbon atoms in the acid molecule (butanoic acid) and two carbon atoms in the parent alcohol (ethanol). This ester is called ethyl butanoate.