Ethanol is used in pharma, research, and academia as a reagent as well as a solvent. Because of its relatively low toxicity compared with other alcohols and ability to dissolve non-polar substances, ethanol can be used as a solvent in medical drugs, perfumes, and vegetable essences such as vanilla.
In analytical chemistry, ethanol is used for extraction of alkaloids from plant materials, and as a mobile phase in chromatography.