An amyl alcohol is any of eight alcohols with the formula C5H12O. 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 amyl acetate and other important products. The name amyl alcohol without further specification applies to the normal (straight-chain) form, 1-pentanol. These are the 8 alcohols that are structural isomers with molecular formula C5H12O: {| class="wikitable sortable" |+Amyl alcohol isomers |- ! Common name !! Structure !! Type !! IUPAC name !! Boiling point (°C) |- | 1-pentanolor normal amyl alcohol | | primary | Pentan-1-ol | 138.5 |- | 2-methyl-1-butanolor active amyl alcohol | | primary | 2-Methylbutan-1-ol | 128.7 |- | 3-methyl-1-butanolor isoamyl alcoholor isopentyl alcohol | | primary | 3-Methylbutan-1-ol | 131.2 |- | 2,2-dimethyl-1-propanolor neopentyl alcohol | | primary | 2,2-Dimethylpropan-1-ol | 113.1 |- | 2-pentanolor sec-amyl alcoholor methyl (n) propyl carbinol | | secondary | Pentan-2-ol | 118.8 |- | 3-methyl-2-butanolor sec-isoamyl alcoholor methyl isopropyl carbinol | | secondary | 3-Methylbutan-2-ol | 113.6 |- | 3-Pentanol | | secondary | Pentan-3-ol | 115.3 |- | 2-methyl-2-butanolor tert-amyl alcohol | | tertiary | 2-Methylbutan-2-ol | 102 |} Three of these alcohols, 2-methyl-1-butanol, 2-pentanol, and 3-methyl-2-butanol (methyl isopropyl carbinol), are therefore optically active. The most important amyl alcohol is isoamyl alcohol, the chief one generated by fermentation in the production of alcoholic beverages and a constituent of fusel oil. The other amyl alcohols may be obtained synthetically. References Alkanols GABAA receptor positive allosteric modulators