In: Chemistry
Why is it better to use a rotovap instead of a hot plate to evaporate ether?
Rotary evaporators are used to remove solvents from reaction mixtures.They allow performing task very quickly. A typical rotary evaporator has a water bath that can be heated in either a metal container or crystallization dish. This keeps the solvent from freezing during the evaporation process. The solvent is removed under vacuum, is trapped by a condenser and is collected for easy reuse or disposal.Since the flask is rotated during the evaporation process, the surface area is larger than normal which increases the evaporation rate significantly.In addition, this method also avoids overheating of the target compound i.e. oxidation because lower temperatures are used. The boiling point of ether is 34.6 oC and flash point of ether is -45oC so we need to very careful during evaporation of ether. Because of above rotovap application we should do this job in rotovap.
If we evaporate ether using hot plate then there is chances of fire because of low flash point. In rotovap, solution containg flask is connected tightly so there is no chances to catch fire.