Interstellar alcohol.

Results are reported for observations of emission from the J = 2-1 rotational transitions of (C-12)H3OH, (C-13)H3OH, and CH3OD at 96.7 GHz toward 14 galactic sources and from the 1(10) - 1(11) (A) transition of CH3OH at 834 MHz toward the galactic center. (C-12)H3OH at 96.7 GHz was detected with a peak strength of less than or about 1 K toward 11 sources and with a peak strength of 2 or 3 K toward the Kleinmann-Low (KL) nebula, Sgr A, and Sgr B2; (C-13)H3OH and CH3OD were detected toward Sgr B2; and extended (C-12)H3OH emission at 834 MHz was detected toward nine positions in the galactic-center region. An upper limit is set on (C-13)H3OH toward Ori A, and the CH3OH column densities toward Sgr B2, Sgr A, the KL nebula, and the other sources (upper limits only) are estimated. It is shown that (C-12)H3OH is probably optically thick in Sgr B2 at 96.7 GHz, that CH3OH is generally more abundant than H2CO, and that a scheme involving the reaction of CH3(+) with H2O to form CH3OH is consistent with the observations.