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#7 says that an ether cannot hydrogen bond with water because it cannot donate a H bond. As long as it can accept, shouldn't it still be considered capable of H-bonding with water?
AAMC 9 H-Bonding
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I remember this question because I thought it was dumb too.
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Ethers are slightly polar. The C-O-C bond angle in the functional group is about 110°, and the C-O dipoles do not cancel out. Ethers are more polar than alkenes but not as polar as alcohols, esters, or amides of comparable structure. However, the presence of two lone pairs of electrons on the oxygen atoms makes hydrogen bonding with water molecules possible, i am sure you misread something, because they don't just make mistakes like this. Ether molecules cannot form hydrogen bonds with each other.
However, in water the hydrogen atoms have a greater partial positive charge than the hydrogen atoms on ether. In water, the charge is localized (only on) the hydrogens and not delocalized (spread throughout) as with the alkyl groups, so the charge is stronger in water than in ethers.
Like water, ether is capable of forming hydrogen bonds.
However, because of the delocalized nature of the positive charge on the ether molecule's hydrogen atoms, the hydrogens cannot partake in hydrogen bonding. Thus, ethers only form hydrogen bonds to other molecules that have hydrogen atoms with strong partial positive charges. Therefore, ether molecules cannot form hydrogen bonds with other ether molecules. This leads to the high volatility of ethers. Ethers are capable, however, of forming hydrogen bonds to water, which accounts for the good solubility of low molecular weight ethers in water.
However, in water the hydrogen atoms have a greater partial positive charge than the hydrogen atoms on ether. In water, the charge is localized (only on) the hydrogens and not delocalized (spread throughout) as with the alkyl groups, so the charge is stronger in water than in ethers.
Like water, ether is capable of forming hydrogen bonds.
However, because of the delocalized nature of the positive charge on the ether molecule's hydrogen atoms, the hydrogens cannot partake in hydrogen bonding. Thus, ethers only form hydrogen bonds to other molecules that have hydrogen atoms with strong partial positive charges. Therefore, ether molecules cannot form hydrogen bonds with other ether molecules. This leads to the high volatility of ethers. Ethers are capable, however, of forming hydrogen bonds to water, which accounts for the good solubility of low molecular weight ethers in water.
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Nope the question is basically what intermolecular forces can an alcohol do with water that ether cannot?
a) van der wals
b) dipole dipole
c) h bonding
d) covalent
I'd say the best answer is still h bonding because like the above poster said, ether cannot form as many hydrogen bonds and therefore has a significantly lower boiling point. You can also see this from the graph that shows that at 25 degrees celcius the alcohol has a vapor pressure of ~50 and the ether has a vapor pressure of ~20. THAT should be (although maybe not the most obvious) the best indicator that ether does not have nearly the amount of hydrogen bonding that alcohol does with water. The lower the vapor pressure at a given temperature, the higher the boiling point, the lower the intermolecular forces aka hydrogen bonding.
a) van der wals
b) dipole dipole
c) h bonding
d) covalent
I'd say the best answer is still h bonding because like the above poster said, ether cannot form as many hydrogen bonds and therefore has a significantly lower boiling point. You can also see this from the graph that shows that at 25 degrees celcius the alcohol has a vapor pressure of ~50 and the ether has a vapor pressure of ~20. THAT should be (although maybe not the most obvious) the best indicator that ether does not have nearly the amount of hydrogen bonding that alcohol does with water. The lower the vapor pressure at a given temperature, the higher the boiling point, the lower the intermolecular forces aka hydrogen bonding.
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