Methanol is used widely both in the lab and industrially. The largest use of methanol is in the production of methyl t-butyl ether (MTBE), which is a gasoline additive. Other uses of methanol are in dimethyl terephthalate, methylamines, chloromethanes, and methyl methacrylate. Additionally, methanol is often used as a solvent in car windshield wash, wall paints, and aerosol spray paint. In this reaction, methanol was used to protonate the carbanion in the second step of the epimerization reaction.

 

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency; Chemical Summary for Methanol. EPA 749-F-94-013a. 1994.

 

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