CBSE Class 12-science Answered
The solvents are grouped into non-polar, polar aprotic, and polar protic solvents and ordered by increasing polarity. The polarity is given as the dielectric constant. The density of nonpolar solvents that are heavier than water is bolded.
Solvent | Chemical Formula | Boiling point | Dielectric constant | Density |
---|---|---|---|---|
Non-Polar Solvents | ||||
Hexane | CH3-CH2-CH2-CH2-CH2-CH3 | 69 °C | 2.0 | 0.655 g/ml |
Benzene | C6H6 | 80 °C | 2.3 | 0.879 g/ml |
Toluene | C6H5-CH3 | 111 °C | 2.4 | 0.867 g/ml |
Diethyl ether | CH3CH2-O-CH2-CH3 | 35 °C | 4.3 | 0.713 g/ml |
Chloroform | CHCl3 | 61 °C | 4.8 | 1.498 g/ml |
Ethyl acetate | CH3-C(=O)-O-CH2-CH3 | 77 °C | 6.0 | 0.894 g/ml |
Polar Aprotic Solvents | ||||
1,4-Dioxane | /-CH2-CH2-O-CH2-CH2-O-\ | 101 °C | 2.3 | 1.033 g/ml |
Tetrahydrofuran (THF) | /-CH2-CH2-O-CH2-CH2-\ | 66 °C | 7.5 | 0.886 g/ml |
Dichloromethane (DCM) | CH2Cl2 | 40 °C | 9.1 | 1.326 g/ml |
Acetone | CH3-C(=O)-CH3 | 56 °C | 21 | 0.786 g/ml |
Acetonitrile (MeCN) | CH3-C≡N | 82 °C | 37 | 0.786 g/ml |
Dimethylformamide (DMF) | H-C(=O)N(CH3)2 | 153 °C | 38 | 0.944 g/ml |
Dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) | CH3-S(=O)-CH3 | 189 °C | 47 | 1.092 g/ml |
Polar Protic Solvents | ||||
Acetic acid | CH3-C(=O)OH | 118 °C | 6.2 | 1.049 g/ml |
n-Butanol | CH3-CH2-CH2-CH2-OH | 118 °C | 18 | 0.810 g/ml |
Isopropanol (IPA) | CH3-CH(-OH)-CH3 | 82 °C | 18 | 0.785 g/ml |
n-Propanol | CH3-CH2-CH2-OH | 97 °C | 20 | 0.803 g/ml |
Ethanol | CH3-CH2-OH | 79 °C | 24 | 0.789 g/ml |
Methanol | CH3-OH | 65 °C | 33 | 0.791 g/ml |
Formic acid | H-C(=O)OH | 100 °C | 58 | 1.21 g/ml |
Water | H-O-H | 100 °C | 80 | 1.000 g/ml |
The polarity, dipole moment, polarizability and hydrogen bonding of a solvent determines what type of compounds it is able to dissolve and with what other solvents or liquid compounds it is miscible. As a rule of thumb, polar solvents dissolve polar compounds best and non-polar solvents dissolve non-polar compounds best: "like dissolves like". Strongly polar compounds like sugars (e.g. sucrose) or ionic compounds, like inorganic salts (e.g. table salt) dissolve only in very polar solvents like water, while strongly non-polar compounds like oils or waxes dissolve only in very non-polar organic solvents like hexane. Similarly, water and hexane (or vinegar and vegetable oil) are not miscible with each other and will quickly separate into two layers even after being shaken well.
Solvents with a relative static permittivity greater than 15 can be further divided into protic and aprotic. Protic solvents solvate anions (negatively charged solutes) strongly via hydrogen bonding. Water is a protic solvent. Aprotic solvents such as acetone or dichloromethane tend to have large dipole moments (separation of partial positive and partial negative charges within the same molecule) and solvate positively charged species via their negative dipole.[7] In chemical reactions the use of polar protic solvents favors the SN1 reaction mechanism, while polar aprotic solvents favor the SN2 reaction mechanism.