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6.05.1. Protic vs Aprotic Solvents

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    34991
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    Solvents used in organic chemistry are characterized by their physical characteristics. Among the most important are whether the solvents are polar or non-polar, and whether they are protic or aprotic. Because non-polar solvents tend to be aprotic,the focus is upon polar solvents and their structures.

    Solvent Polarity

    Solvents are generally classified by the polarity, and considered either polar or non-polar, as indicated by the dielectric constant. However, as with many properties, the polarity is a continuous scale, and the correct question is not "is it polar or non-polar" but "how polar is it." Nonetheless, guidelines have been created to make it easier. Generally, solvents with dielectric constants greater than about 5 are considered "polar" and those with dielectric constants less than 5 are considered "non-polar."

    Table 1: Examples of a few common solvents used in organic chemistry
    Solvent Boiling Point, Celsius Dielectric Constant
      NON-POLAR SOLVENTS  
    Pentane, C5H12 36 1.8
    Hexane, C6H14 69 1.9
    Benzene, C6H6 80 2.3
    Chloroform, CHCl3 61 4.8
    Diethyl ether, (CH3CH2)2O 35 4.3
    1,40-Dioxane, cyc-(CH2CH2OCH2CH2O) 101 2.3
      POLAR PROTIC SOLVENTS  
    Water, H2O 100 78.5
    methanol, CH3OH 65 32.6
    ethanol, CH3CH2OH 78.5 24.3
    isopropyl alcohol, CH3CH(OH)CH3 82 18
    acetic acid, CH3COOH 118 6
      POLAR APROTIC SOLVENTS  
    dichloromethane, CH2Cl2 40 9.1
    tetrahydrofuran (THF), cyc-(CH2)4O 66 7.5
    ethyl acetate, CH3C(O)OCH2CH3 77 6
    acetonitrile, CH3CN 81.6 37.5
    dimethylformamide (DMF), HCON(CH3)2 153 38
    dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO), CH3SOCH3 189 47
    acetone, CH3COCH3 56.5 21
    hexamethylphosphoric triamde (HMPT), [(CH3)2N]3PO 232 30

    Protic vs Aprotic Solvents

    The table above distinguishes between protic and aprotic solvents. For the solvents included in the table, the distinguishing feature is the presence of an -OH group, and that is the most common characteristic of a protic solvent. However, there are exceptions, such as nitromethane, CH3NO2, which is also considered a protic solvent. That might suggest that Bronsted acidity is the most important feature, because nitromethane is very acidic, with a pKa of about 10. However, acetone is still considered a polar aprotic solvent, despite the fact that it is relatively acidic, and not significantly less acidic than alcohols. Then again, acetone (and other carbonyl containing solvents) are, indeed, poor solvents when using strong bases due to their relatively high acidity.

    Significance

    Solvent properties are in important consideration in many chemical reactions, including nucleophilic substitution reactions. As strong hydrogen-bond donors, protic solvents are very effective at stabilizing ions. Therefore, they favor reactions in which ions are formed, such as the SN1 reaction, and disfavor reactions where ions are reactants, such as the SN2 reaction.

    Additional Resources

    Michigan State Virtual Textbook of Organic Chemistry

    Protic vs Aprotic Solvents

    MasterOrganicChemistry

    All About Solvents

    Carey 4th Edition On-Line Activity

    Protic vs Aprotic Solvents

    Leah4Sci

    Polar Protic, Aprotic, and Non-Polar Solvents in Substitution and Elimination Reactions

    Web Pages

    List of protic and aprotic solvents

    Videos

    Protic and aprotic solvents

    Protic vs aprotic solvents


    6.05.1. Protic vs Aprotic Solvents is shared under a CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 license and was authored, remixed, and/or curated by LibreTexts.

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