Keeping this in view, does NaOH react with alcohol?
In general most alcohols are slightly less acidic than water. In aqueous NaOH, there are mobile Na+ and OH-, so alcohol is not able to react with Na+ to form water and salt , as it can be considered as an acid. Thus the main conclusion that can be drawn is that alcohol can not react with NaOH.
Also, what does NaOH do in organic chemistry? Improve solubility of acidic organic molecules. Facilitate elimination. Convert an organic molecule into a better nucleophile.
Consequently, what is meant by alcoholic KOH?
Alcoholic KOH dissociates in water to give RO- ions which is a strong base it abstracts hydrogen giving rise to elimination in reaction. Whereas, Aq KOH dissociates in water giving - OH ions which is a good nucleophile and prefers substitution in a reaction.
How can we tell the difference between an alcohol and a base?
Alcohols are generally very weak acids. It has to do with what species are in solution. For a traditional base, like NaOH, the soluble species are Na+ and OH-, so the OH group is in solution. In a water soluble alcohol, like methanol, the O is tightly bonded to the carbon, and the H+ is weakly solubilized.