An inexperienced graduate student moved into a laboratory and began work. He nee
ID: 944662 • Letter: A
Question
An inexperienced graduate student moved into a laboratory and began work. He needed some diethyl ether for a reaction, so he opened an old, rusty 1-gallon can marked "ethyl ether" and found there was half a gallon left. To purify the ether, the student set up a distillation apparatus, started a careful distillation, and went to the stockroom for the other reagents he needed. While he was at the stockroom, the student heard a muffled "boom." He quickly returned to his lab to find a worker from another laboratory putting out a fire. Most of the distillation apparatus was embedded in the ceiling. Explain what probably happened. Explain how this near-disaster might have been prevented.Explanation / Answer
a) Di-ethyl ether is sensitive to light and air, tending to form explosive peroxides.As gallon of diethyl ether was old and half left it may have formed peroxides, which on heating during distillation exploded.
b) Peroxides from diethyl ether can be removed by either distillation from sodium and benzophenone, or by passing through a column of activated alumina.so this care might have prevented this near-disaster