A chemical group consisting of five carbon atoms bonded to hydrogen, found in many organic compounds.
From Latin amylum meaning 'starch', which comes from Greek amylon (not ground at the mill). Early chemists named this hydrocarbon group after starch because it was first identified in starch-related compounds.
Amyl alcohol was once a popular recreational drug called 'poppers' because it came in small bottles that users would pop open—the same chemical group that sounds so innocent in textbooks was recreationally abused for its brief euphoric rush.
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