William asks…
Can make a diethyl ether solution by heating up sulfuric acid and adding tequilla or vodka?
I want to make some diethyl ether for an experiment at home. I have some drain cleaner which is basically highly concentrated sulfuric acid and some tequila. If I were to heat the sulfuric acid up and add some ethanol from the tequila will it create a diethyl ether compound?
weight loss cardiff answers:
Using tequila or vodka would probably not result in very high yields, as those contain a lot of water, which doesn’t help the desired process. You’d also need to distill the ether that is produced to get some yield, which is difficult to do with household items. I would also advise you not to heat sulfuric acid at home under any circumstances; the acid itself does not boil easily, but water or ether or ethanol do, resulting in small splashes of acid, which can be very dangerous. Of course, hot acid is also rather more corrosive than when it’s cold…
Ruth asks…
Why does diethyl ether have a lower boiling point than acetone?
Why is it that diethyl ether‘s bp is at 34.6°C and acetone’s bp is at 56.5°C? Aren’t both equally polar?
Shouldn’t diethyl ether have the higher bp because of the fact that it can produce stronger London dispersion forces (more electrons than acetone)?
weight loss cardiff answers:
The dipole moment of diethyl ether is 1.15 Debye. The dipole moment is of acetone is 2.91 Debye — 2.5 times greater than that of ether.
So, no, they are far from being equally polar and the London forces are insignificant in comparison.
The 3D pictures in the links below should make it clear as to why acetone is more polar.
Robert asks…
How to separate mixture dissolved in diethyl ether that contains acetic acid? (Hmwk due tmrw!)?
A crude non acidic product mixture dissolved in diethyl ether contains acetic acid. Describe an extraction procedure that could be used to remove the acetic acid.
weight loss cardiff answers:
If you mix it with water the water should absorb the acetic acid from the ether. Alternately, ether evaporates at a crazy rate. Warm the mixture GENTLY and WITHOUT FLAME and you’ll have the acid by itself. Ether is extremely flammable as well, so flame anywhere nearby will result in lost eyebrows and possibly lab.
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