What characteristics are there of alcohols?

[leftventricle]

About fats...the macromolecule: Fatty acids are attached to alcohols right? (eg glycerol)

So...what is an alcohol?

[vinayaksabnis]

Alcohols are nothing but they are the alkyl group attached to OH group

[jonmoulton]

A free alcohol group (properly called a hydroxyl, -OH) can hydrogen-bond, so the group tends to improve the aqueous solubility of the molecule bearing it. Under some circumstances the hydroxyl can be reactive; a typical reaction of hydroxyl groups is esterification (ester formation).

To form fatty acids, a hydroxyl is combined with a carboxylic acid by dehydration synthesis to form an ester (a fat has three of these ester groups). Hydrolysis of the ester cleaves the fat into a trihydroxyl-bearing glycerol and three fatty acids (each with its terminal carboxylic acid).