A chemical reaction where a molecule is broken apart by reacting it with ethanol, similar to how water breaks things down in hydrolysis.
From ethanol + -lysis (Greek lysis meaning 'breaking apart'). This is a direct parallel to hydrolysis, where water splits molecules, but using ethanol instead as the splitting agent.
Ethanolysis is a favorite reaction in organic chemistry labs because ethanol is cheap, safe, and readily available—making it ideal for breaking down fats and oils in soap-making and plastic recycling processes.
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