Alcohol classifications
The terms primary, secondary and tertiary are commonly used in organic chemistry to describe the number of bonds to carbon at a particular atom.
For alcohols having two or more carbons, the terms primary, secondary and tertiary refer to the carbon atom bearing the OH. The carbon bearing OH in a
The simplest alcohol (CH3OH) is regarded as primary despite having no carbons attached to the carbon bearing OH.
For alcohols having two or more carbons, the terms primary, secondary and tertiary refer to the carbon atom bearing the OH. The carbon bearing OH in a
primary (1°) alcohol is bonded to one carbon and two hydrogens
secondary (2°) alcohol is bonded to two carbons and one hydrogen
tertiary (3°) alcohol is bonded to three carbons
secondary (2°) alcohol is bonded to two carbons and one hydrogen
tertiary (3°) alcohol is bonded to three carbons
| CH3CH2OH |  |  |
| primary | secondary | tertiary |
The simplest alcohol (CH3OH) is regarded as primary despite having no carbons attached to the carbon bearing OH.