Question

Diethyl ether is a commonly used solvent for GC analyses because of its low boiling point. In this experiment, why was heptane used as the solvent instead?a. Heptane has a lower boiling point than that of diethyl ether.b. Heptane will not evaporate as fast as diethyl ether will.c. Diethyl ether has a similar boiling point to that of the product.d. Diethyl ether will react with the alkenes that were formed in the experiment.

Answer 1

C - Diethyl ether has a similar boiling point to that of the product and this will affect the separation process, due to less difference in volatility between the mobile and stationary phases, ether may get bound to the surface of the stationary phase and not move up to separate the less volatile gases.