hopefully this helps...
"Ether is the oxide of this base, and alcohol the hydrated oxide; that is, chemically regarded, the only difference between ether and alcohol is, that the latter contains one equivalent of water"
albumen . conservation-us . org/ library/ monographs/ sunbeam/ chap08. html
I have Sodium Benzoate and Benzyl Alcohol in a solution. I used an ether to separate the two. I know the alcohol dissolved into the ether and benzoate stayed in the aqueous solution. However,
So my question is.. why the alcohol is able to dissolve better into ether than water?
5 answers
I'm not quite sure I quite understand. ^^;;.
I've done some googling and found that as alcohols get bigger, they lose their solubility in water because they are too big. Although, I know ether can dissolve the alcohols through hydrogen bonds (I think). I don't see why ether is more effective.
I've done some googling and found that as alcohols get bigger, they lose their solubility in water because they are too big. Although, I know ether can dissolve the alcohols through hydrogen bonds (I think). I don't see why ether is more effective.
Remember that like dissolves like. It is true that the alcohol contains OH which is like water; however, think of the alcohol as ROH. As long as R (the hydrocarbon part of the alcohol) is small, it will be soluble in water. CH3OH, C2H5OH, C3H7OH (methyl, ethyl, propyl alcohols) are quite soluble in water because the R part is relatively small. However, with benzyl alcohol, that has the benzyl part for R (C6H5CH2OH). In effect, benzyl alcohol behaves less as an OH and more as the R part; therefore, it is more insoluble in water and more soluble in organic solvents like ether.
I see that makes sense! I didn't see why I didn't think of it haha. I kept thinking like dissolves like for polar/nonpolar which is irrelevant in this case. I wasn't sure if I should use the concept as you said. Thanks!
which is more soluble in water methyl fluoride or hydrogen flouride and why
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