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ETHERS

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Originally appearing in Volume V09, Page 808 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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ETHERS , in organic See also:

chemistry, compounds of the See also:general See also:formula R•O•R', where R, R'=alkyl or aryl See also:groups. They may be regarded as the anhydrides of the See also:alcohols, being formed by elimination of one See also:molecule of See also:water from two molecules of the alcohols; those in which the two See also:hydrocarbon radicals are similar are known as See also:simple ethers, and those in which they are dissimilar as mixed ethers. They may be prepared by the See also:action of concentrated sulphuric See also:acid on the alcohols, alkyl sulphuric acids being first formed, which yield ethers on See also:heating with alcohols. The See also:process may be made a continuous one by See also:running a thin stream of See also:alcohol continually into the heated reaction mixture of alcohol and sulphuric acid. See also:Benzene sulphonic acid has been used in See also:place of sulphuric acid (F. See also:Krafft, Ber., 1893, 26, p. 2829). A. W. See also:Williamson (See also:Ann., 1851, 77, p. 38; 1852, 81, p. 77) prepared See also:ether by the action of sodiumethylate on See also:ethyl iodide, and showed that all ethers must possess the structural formula given above (see also Brit.

Assoc. Reports, 185o, p. 65). They may also be prepared by heating the alkyl halides with See also:

silver See also:oxide. The ethers are neutral volatile liquids (the first member, methyl ether, is a See also:gas at See also:ordinary temperature). See also:Phosphorus pentachloride converts them into alkyl chlorides, a similar decomposition taking place when they are heated with the haloid acids. Nitric acid and chromic acid oxidize them in such a manner that they yield the same products as the alcohols from which they are derived. With See also:chlorine they yield substitution products. Methyl ether, (See also:CH3)2O, was first prepared by J. B. See also:Dumas and E. Peligot (Ann. chim. phys., 1835, [2] 58, p.

19) by heating methyl alcohol with sulphuric acid. It is best prepared by heating methyl alcohol and sulphuric acid to 14o° C. and leading the evolved gas into sulphuric acid. The sulphuric acid See also:

solution is then allowed to drop slowly into an equal See also:volume of water, when the methyl ether is liberated (E. Erlenmeyer and A: Kriechbaumer, Ber., 1874, 7, p. 699). It is a pleasant-smelling gas, which See also:burns when ignited, and may be condensed to a liquid which boils at 23.6° C. It is somewhat soluble in water and readily soluble in alcohol, and concentrated sulphuric acid. It combines with hydrochloric acid gas to See also:form a See also:compound (CH3)2O•HC1 (C. See also:Friedel, Comptes rendus, 1875, 81, p. 152). Methyl ethyl ether, CH3.O•C,H5, is prepared from methyl iodide and See also:sodium ethylate, or from ethyl iodide and sodium methylate (A. W.

Williamson, Ann., 1852, 81, p. 77). It is a liquid which boils at ro•8° C. For diethyl ether see ETHER, and for methyl phenyl ether (anisole) and ethyl phenyl ether (phenetole) see CARBOLIC ACID.

End of Article: ETHERS

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