The higher alcohols such as propyl, isobutyl, amyl, capryl, oenanthyl and caproyl, have been identified; and the amount of these vary according to the different conditions of the fermentation.
The characteristic flavour and odour of wines and spirits is dependent on the proportion of higher alcohols, aldehydes and esters which may be produced.
Hantzsch (Ber., 1901, 34, p. 3337) has shown that in the action of alcohols on diazonium salts an increase in the molecular weight of the alcohol and an accumulation of negative groups in the aromatic nucleus lead to a diminution in the yield of the ether produced and to the production of a secondary reaction, resulting in the formation of a certain amount of an aromatic hydrocarbon.
Polymethylenes can give only secondary and tertiary alcohols, benzene only tertiary; these latter compounds are known as phenols.
Of these, undoubtedly the simplest are the ethers (q.v.), formed by the elimination of the elements of water between two molecules of the same alcohol, " simple ethers," or of different alcohols, " mixed ethers."
