The discussion centers on the use of methanol and ethyl ether as solvents for washing products in inorganic and organic synthesis. These solvents are preferred because they effectively dissolve a wide range of organic compounds while being easy to evaporate. Additionally, methanol and ether do not interfere with NMR analysis or UV spectra in LC/MS, facilitating product identification. Alternatives like ethyl acetate or DCM can also be used, but methanol and ether remain popular due to their efficiency and ease of use.
PREREQUISITESChemists, particularly those involved in organic and inorganic synthesis, as well as researchers focused on purification techniques and analytical methods in chemistry.
Shadowz said:I read many procedure for inorganic/organic synthesis, and see that most often after filtering the product, they suggest to wash them with small amount of methanol and ethyl ether.
Why do we have to use those 2 solvents to wash our products?
Which compound description do you mean? Inorganic, or Organic? Maybe some inorganic compounds are fairly insoluble in methanol or ethyl ether. Best guess is that many or most organic compound may be soluble in methanol or ethyl ether; salts are likely insoluble in the organic solvents (is this a bad assumption?)Shadowz said:I read many procedure for inorganic/organic synthesis, and see that most often after filtering the product, they suggest to wash them with small amount of methanol and ethyl ether.
Why do we have to use those 2 solvents to wash our products?
symbolipoint said:Which compound description do you mean? Inorganic, or Organic? Maybe some inorganic compounds are fairly insoluble in methanol or ethyl ether. Best guess is that many or most organic compound may be soluble in methanol or ethyl ether; salts are likely insoluble in the organic solvents (is this a bad assumption?)
That's the basic idea. But I wonder why it has to be methanol and dimethyl ether, but not other organic solvents.