Chemicals and Drugs

Ethanol

A clear, colorless liquid rapidly absorbed from the gastrointestinal tract and distributed throughout the body. It has bactericidal activity and is used often as a topical disinfectant. It is widely used as a solvent and preservative in pharmaceutical preparations as well as serving as the primary ingredient in ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGES.

National Library of MedicineMedical Subject Headings2026

Structured Summary

Abstract

A clear, colorless liquid rapidly absorbed from the gastrointestinal tract and distributed throughout the body. It has bactericidal activity and is used often as a topical disinfectant. It is widely used as a solvent and preservative in pharmaceutical preparations as well as serving as the primary ingredient in ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGES.

Chemical Identity

Chemical Information

Molecular Formula
C2H6O
Molecular Weight
46.07 g/mol
CAS Registry No.
64-17-5
IUPAC Name
ethanol
InChIKey
LFQSCWFLJHTTHZ-UHFFFAOYSA-N
SMILES
CCO
MeSH Unique ID
D000431
Source
PubChem CID 702

MeSH Record

Classification

Broader headings

Narrower headings

Related Concepts

Knowledge Graph

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Drug Class

Pharmacological Action

MeSH Record

See Also

MeSH Record

Synonyms

6 entry terms
  • Alcohol, Ethyl
  • Grain Alcohol
  • Alcohol, Grain
  • Ethyl Alcohol
  • Absolute Alcohol
  • Alcohol, Absolute

MeSH Record

Aspects Covered

25 allowable subheadings

Indexed with the subheadings administration & dosage, adverse effects, agonists, analogs & derivatives, analysis, antagonists & inhibitors, blood, cerebrospinal fluid, chemical synthesis, chemistry, classification, economics, history, immunology, isolation & purification, metabolism, pharmacokinetics, pharmacology, poisoning, radiation effects, standards, supply & distribution, therapeutic use, toxicity, urine.

MeSH Record

Indexing Annotation

for "alcohol" unspecified; /antag: consider also ALCOHOL DETERRENTS; ethanol production by organisms = /metab; use/pois for acute alcohol poisoning & acute alcoholic intoxication; available also are ALCOHOL DRINKING and specifics, DRUNKENNESS see ALCOHOLIC INTOXICATION, ALCOHOLISM, ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGES and ALCOHOL ABSTINENCE; hypophysectomy by alcohol injection = HYPOPHYSECTOMY, CHEMICAL & do not index ETHANOL unless particularly discussed

MeSH Record

History Note

98(63)

MeSH Hierarchy

Tree Number

  1. D02w.033w.375w

AMA Style

References

  1. National Library of Medicine. Ethanol. Medical Subject Headings (MeSH). 2026. Unique ID D000431. http://id.nlm.nih.gov/mesh/2026/D000431
  2. Ethanol. In: Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethanol
  3. Ethanol. In: Wikidata. https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q153
  4. Ethanol. In: PubChem Compound. CID 702. https://pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/compound/702