Question

What is meant by denatured alcohol? What is the need for denatured alcohol?

Answer 1

An alcohol is an organic compound with the functional group (-OH), and according to IUPAC a suffix ‘ol’ is added while naming any compound having (-OH) as the functional group. Oxidation of alcohol can yield aldehyde, ketones, and even carboxylic acid when a strong oxidizing agent is used.

Complete answer: To get to the meaning of denatured alcohol let’s first understand the meaning of denaturation. Denaturation is a chemical process where the primary, secondary, and tertiary structure of a protein is altered by some external factors or any chemicals. E.g., Hardening of eggs after boiling and setting of curd by the action of bacteria.
Therefore, when ethyl alcohol/ or ethanol is treated with any denaturants preferably methanol, pyridine, copper sulphate, etc. it becomes poisonous and toxic for humans, and this alcohol is called denatured alcohol.
Why would someone alter a pure chemical?
Denaturation is needed to make it unfit for drinking purposes, as ethanol is a commercially important liquid for many industries, hence to prevent its misuse it is treated with denaturants.

Additional information: Denatured alcohol is used in chemical labs and cosmetics products, as mentioned it has many industrial uses. It is mostly coloured with aniline dye, but in some countries, it is not important to give it a colour. E.g., in the U.S it is not necessary to colour the denatured alcohol.

Note: As normal alcohol and denatured alcohol both are transparent, denatured alcohol is mostly coloured to identify it distinctively. Consumption of denatured alcohol can be lethal, it can cause severe damage and possibly death.