Why Diethyl Ether Would Not Show Hydrogen Bonding

The normal boiling point of diethyl ether is relatively low at 34 6 c.

Why diethyl ether would not show hydrogen bonding. Dimethyl ether can not form h bonding only molecules where h is bonded directly to o n or f can you have h bonding as in intermolecular force in the case of dimethyl ether the o is bonded to each c and all of the h s are bonded to c. Diethyl ether has no intermolecular hydrogen bonding because there is no oh group. For example the boiling point of diethyl ether c 4 h 10 o molecular weight mw 74 is 35 c 95 f but the boiling point of 1 butanol or n butyl alcohol. Ethyl methyl ether three carbon atoms one oxygen atom is more soluble in water than 1 butanol four carbon atoms one oxygen atom even though both can engage in hydrogen bonding with water.

C 4 h 10 o mw 74. Ethers such as diethyl ether are good solvents for a wide range of polar and nonpolar organic compounds. 1 butanol has an oh and engages in intermolecular hydrogen bonding. Nevertheless the ether oxygen can act as a hydrogen bond acceptor in combination with better hydrogen bond donors like oh groups which explains why diethyl ether is sparingly soluble in water despite its low polarity 69 g l at 20 c.

Hydrogen bonding is an intermolecular force that is it occurs between molecules and is specific to hydrogen and either fluorine oxygen or nitrogen. The molecular formula of diethyl. Because ether molecules cannot engage in hydrogen bonding with each other they have much lower boiling points than do alcohols with similar molecular weights.