Amyl alcohols are alcohols with the formula C5H11OH.Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary 11th Ed. 2004 There are eight isomers. A mixture of amyl alcohols (also called amyl alcohol) can be obtained from fusel alcohol. Amyl alcohol is used as a solvent and in esterification, by which is produced amyl acetate and other products. The name amyl alcohol without further specification applies to the normal (straight-chain) form, 1-pentanol.
{| class="wikitable sortable"
|+Amyl alcohol isomers
|-
! Common name !! Structure !! Type !! IUPAC name !! Boiling point (°C)Calculated boiling points from ChemSpider.
|-
| 1-pentanolor normal amyl alcohol
| 150px
| primary
| Pentan-1-ol
| 138.5
|-
| 2-methyl-1-butanolor active amyl alcohol
| 120px
| primary
| 2-Methylbutan-1-ol
| 128.7
|-
| 3-methyl-1-butanolor isoamyl alcoholor isopentyl alcohol
| 120px
| primary
| 3-Methylbutan-1-ol
| 131.2
|-
| 2,2-dimethyl-1-propanolor neopentyl alcohol
| 100px
| primary
| 2,2-Dimethylpropan-1-ol
| 113.1
|-
| 2-pentanolor sec-amyl alcoholor methyl (n) propyl carbinol
| 100px
| secondary
| Pentan-2-ol
| 118.8
|-
| 3-methyl-2-butanolor sec-isoamyl alcoholor methyl isopropyl carbinol
| 80px
| secondary
| 3-Methylbutan-2-ol
| 113.6
|-
| 3-Pentanol
| 100px
| secondary
| Pentan-3-ol
| 115.3
|-
| 2-methyl-2-butanolor tert-amyl alcohol
| 100px
| tertiary
| 2-Methylbutan-2-ol
| 102
|}
Three of these alcohols, 2-methyl-1-butanol, 2-pentanol, and 3-methyl-2-butanol (methyl isopropyl carbinol), contain stereocenters, and are therefore chiral and optically active.
The most important amyl alcohol is isoamyl alcohol, the chief one generated by fermentation in the production of alcoholic beverages and a constituent of fusel oil. The other amyl alcohols may be obtained synthetically.