Why Diethyl Ether Dissolve In Water

Glucose for one is actually more soluble in water than it is in ether.

Why diethyl ether dissolve in water. One is usually water or water based and the other an organic solvent. For example acetic acid has a k of 0 5 when partitioning between diethyl ether and water meaning acetic acid favors the aqueous layer only twice as much as the organic layer 4 the ability of acetic acid and other polar compounds to dissolve in the organic layer of a separatory funnel should not be ignored. Because of its characteristics diethyl ether was widely used in many countries as an anesthetic agent but was then replaced by other substances in the 1960s. Probably your extract contains water which is insoluble in diethyl ether or you extracted also such very polar compounds that don t dissolve in ether.

That being said all the compounds you listed will dissolve in diethyl ether. Diethyl ether cas 60 29 7 is a component of starting fluids and is used as a solvent in the manufacture of synthetic dyes and plastics. At it s most general meaning orgainc solvents will dissolve organic compounds. Diethyl ether or simply ether is an organic compound in the ether class with the formula c 2 h 5 2 o sometimes abbreviated as et 2 o see pseudoelement symbols it is a colorless highly volatile sweet smelling ethereal odour flammable liquid it is commonly used as a solvent in laboratories and as a starting fluid for some engines.

However not all of the compounds you listed are more soluble in diethyl ether than water. Diethyl ether is considered a good organic extracting solvent because it has a low polarity according to the university of alberta s organic web chem. If the exctract is not a solid rather like a.