The Basics of General, Organic, and Biological Chemistry

With the general formula ROR′, an may be considered a derivative of water in which both hydrogen atoms are replaced by alkyl or aryl groups. It may also be considered a derivative of an alcohol (ROH) in which the hydrogen atom of the OH group is been replaced by a second alkyl or aryl group.
Simple ethers have simple common names, formed from the names of the groups attached to oxygen atom, followed by the generic name ether. For example, CH3–O–CH2CH2CH3 is methyl propyl ether. If both groups are the same, the group name should be preceded by the prefix di-, as in dimethyl ether (CH3–O–CH3) and diethyl ether structure CH3CH2–O–CH2CH3.

Ether molecules have no hydrogen atom on the oxygen atom (that is, no OH group). Therefore there is no intermolecular hydrogen bonding between ether molecules, and ethers therefore have quite low boiling points for a given molar mass. Indeed, ethers have boiling points about the same as those of alkanes of comparable molar mass and much lower than those of the corresponding alcohols.

Ether molecules do have an oxygen atom, however, and engage in hydrogen bonding with water molecules. Consequently, an ether has about the same solubility in water as the alcohol that is isomeric with it. For example, dimethyl ether and ethanol (both having the molecular formula C2H6O) are completely soluble in water, whereas diethyl ether sds and 1-butanol (both C4H10O) are barely soluble in water.

Diethyl ether structure is relatively safe because there is a fairly wide gap between the dose that produces an effective level of anesthesia and the lethal dose. However, because it is highly flammable and has the added disadvantage of causing nausea, it has been replaced by newer inhalant anesthetics, including the fluorine-containing compounds halothane, enflurane, and isoflurane. Unfortunately, the safety of these compounds for operating room personnel has been questioned. For example, female operating room workers exposed to halothane suffer a higher rate of miscarriages than women in the general population.