Kevin Nash
Last Activity: 10 Years ago
peroxides. On standing in contact with air,
ethers are converted into unstable peroxides (R base 2O ? O) which are highly explosive even in low
concentrations. Hence ether is always purified before distillation.
Purification (removal of peroxides) can be done by washing ether with a
solution of ferrous salt (which reduces peroxides to alcohols) or by
distillation with conc. H base 2SO base 4 (which oxidises proxides)