Talk:Ether

message: It is used as a drug. Any information about that? —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 203.97.178.2 (talk) 00:03, 3 January 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: Yeah I was searching for information on ether as a drug, but all I found was its chemical properties. Someone should add it. CheesePlease NL 11:38, 26 September 2007 (UTC)

text: Yeah I came here to find out more about it's use as an anaesthetic, but it's just a page of scientific forumula and information only useful to scientists. -NeF (talk) 01:13, 25 July 2008 (UTC)
replies: text: There's a very brief mention of ether used as an anesthetic in the article Chloroform#Anesthetic. There's also a not very satisfactory discussion of ether at History of general anesthesia, and a somewhat better discussion at Anesthesia. None of these mention that ether was still used occasionally for surgery until the mid-20th century. All of these articles badly need some knowledgeable help. Milkunderwood (talk) 20:52, 1 May 2016 (UTC)

text: Probably because they just read or watched Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas —Slicing (talk) 03:42, 22 July 2012 (UTC)
replies: text:  I'm suprised no one has mentioned this, but ether refers to a whole class of organic compounds. The drug known in colloquial use as "ether" refers specifically as diethyl ether i.e. the one with medical and recreation drug use. This is mentioned at the start of the article, though it might not have been when this discussion started.  — Preceding unsigned comment added by J1812 (talk • contribs) 04:59, 10 January 2013 (UTC)
thread_title:  As a Drug 

message: How does it smell?
In the sidebar, furan is shown as an aromatic compound that is not an ether. Furan is the prototypical aromatic ether and is the unsaturated form of THF (hence tetrahydrofuran)
The funny thing about the Michaelson-Morely experiment is that Einstein was already formulating relativity before he knew anything about it. 
Also, wasn't the root of the english word "ether" the Latin word "aether", which means "air" as in "the sky".
You sure aether doesn't refer specifically to the upper air, which corresponds to the fifth element that fills all of space?  Its Greek equivalent does, at least.
:Despite their comparably attenuated reactivity, ethers can act as Lewis acids (see Acid-base reaction theories).  For instance, diethyl ether forms a complex with boron compounds, such as boron trifluoride etherate, F3B:O(CH2CH3)2
Wouldn't the ether be the Lewis base here?  Josh Cherry 00:59, 23 Oct 2003 (UTC)
thread_title: Various remarks

message: what do people think? a discussion of diethly ether belongs on a separate page to discussion of ether's in general... jsut a thought... Erich 06:38, 15 Jul 2004 (UTC)
thread_title:  should this be a disambig page? 

message: The equation given for the Williamson ether synthesis shows an alkyl halide as a reactant, but what follows gives sulfonate esters as an example of a leaving group.  Either the equation is not general enough or this example is incorrect. Josh Cherry 15:53, 26 Dec 2004 (UTC)
thread_title:  Williamson ether synthesis 

message: Should some mention be made of early astronomical/astrological claims of space consisting of heavenly bodies suspended in "ether?" 153.104.16.114 17:29, 14 November 2005 (UTC)
thread_title:  Space theory 

message: If the known chemical was named after the ancient concept of "ether" or "aether", being what fills the void, or the universal solvent, then shouldn't this be the main entry for the word "ether"? All other entries may branch from this one. The article makes no mention of the ethymology of the chemical. Odraxir 00:17, 30 December 2005 (UTC)
thread_title:  What came first? 

message: The illustration of the  aminal does not have the same structure on this page, as on the aminal page... (Which one is correct?) ChristianB 13:44, 18 August 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: Actually according to IUPAC it is an α-aminoether and it is recommnded that the word aminal should not be used AT ALL.--kupirijo (talk) 13:03, 9 November 2008 (UTC)
replies: text: Recomienda... 190.51.183.15 (talk) 13:03, 8 March 2012 (UTC)
thread_title:  Aminal 

message: I think there needs to be a message that says something along the line of "for the Ether in classic physics that is believed to be the medium of which light travels, see [link]" at the top. RegalStar (talk) 21:28, 16 January 2008 (UTC)
replies: text: Isn't it enough with the link to the disambiguation page that is already at the top of the article? --Itub (talk) 09:34, 17 January 2008 (UTC)
thread_title:  Needs a message that directs people to the Ether of classic physics 

message: Why are they called ethers? Did early chemists believe these newly discovered substances were the "aether" (either the luminifarious one or the Fifth Element), or is it more complicated than that? Daibhid C (talk) 21:22, 6 June 2008 (UTC)
replies: text: The name was introduced (though not necessarily coined) in 1730 (1729 O.S.)  by German chemist August Sigmund Frobenius either for the compound's purity, transparency, lightness and lack of color   or its high volatility . --84.41.34.154 (talk) 21:29, 28 April 2017 (UTC)
thread_title: Origin of name

message: If Dibutyl Ether is going to redirect to this page, then there should be more info on it in the article. Boiling point, structure, etc.  —Preceding unsigned comment added by 98.173.141.129 (talk) 14:50, 29 July 2009 (UTC)
thread_title:  Dibutyl Ether 

message: In the 'Structure and bonding' section the C-O-C bond angle is said to be about 120 degrees.  In the 'Physical Properties' section it is said the C-O-C bond angle is about 110 degrees.  I believe it's exactly 109.5 degrees because of the sp3 hybridization, but I'm just a first semester o-chem student so wanted someone to verify this error before correcting it.  —Preceding unsigned comment added by Jusmai77 (talk • contribs) 18:39, 21 January 2010 (UTC)
replies: text: The average bond angle in sp3 hybridization is 109.5 degrees, but in practice this is not always the case. Note that water is 104.5 degrees even though it is sp3 hybridized. This is due to the fact that the lone pairs take up more space than the hydrides. Intermolecular forces and intramolecular forces must also be considered. As it happens, I modeled a couple molecules with ether groups on avogadro, and found that the optimization produced angles between 110 and 115 degrees. CH3CH2OCH2CH3 had an angle of 113.2, and CH3CH2OCH2CH2OCH2CH3 had an angle of 111.4. Adam.braley (talk) 16:55, 28 October 2010 (UTC)
thread_title:  Possible error in page, at least an inconsistency?  

message: I'm not a specialist but afaik 120deg angle is for sp2-hybridization, not for sp3. sp3-hybridization has a 109deg angle. Am I wrong? Wizardist (talk) 06:50, 4 June 2010 (UTC)
thread_title:  Hybridization 

message: I'm not at all confident that the initial explanation of polyethers is accurate. Polyethers are definitely NOT molecules with multiple ether groups, they are polymers that contain repeating ether groups from their propagated monomers. What I'm not sure of is whether it's fair to call crown ethers polyethers. My instinct is no, but I can't back it up since I don't "know" that large crown ethers aren't synthesized by polymerization techniques. I doubt it, since neither step reaction polymerization nor chain reaction polymerization makes any sense for them as far as I can see. Anyway, I submit the question to you my fellow Wikipedians.Adam.braley (talk) 16:51, 28 October 2010 (UTC)
thread_title:  Polyethers: is it fair to refer to crown ethers as polyethers? 

message: I think some clarification is needed about how the tendency of ethers to form explosive peroxides depends on their structure.  The Sept 20th, 2011 version of this section in the ether article contained the statement "Primary and secondary ethers with a CH group next to the ether oxygen form peroxides....For this reason, diisopropyl ether and THF are often avoided as solvents.".
All the common ethers, including diethyl ether, tetrahydrofuran (THF) and diisopropyl ether contain a CH group adjacent to the oxygen.  The first two are primary ethers containing CH2 groups adjacent to the oxygen, while diisopropyl ether is a secondary ether.  THF and diethyl ether are very widely used as solvents, with precautions recommended such as storing in the dark and not distilling to dryness because of the danger of peroxides.  The article diisopropyl ether says it is more prone to peroxide formation than diethyl ether, and less so than methyl t-butyl ether (MTBE). To totally avoid a CH group adjacent to the oxygen one would need to go a highly hindered (crowded) compound such as bis (t-butyl) ether, which may be too hindered to even exist as a stable compound. 
Pending further clarification of the relation of peroxide formation to structure, I will change the text in the main article to say simply that ethers are susceptible to forming explosive peroxides, unless appropriate precautions are taken.CharlesHBennett (talk) 20:49, 20 September 2011 (UTC)
thread_title:  Peroxide formation 

message: Sometimes, as if following IUPAC rules, we put X and Y in alphabetical order, as in ethyl methyl ether, tert-amyl methyl ether (TAME).  But then sometimes the reverse order seems more usual, as in methyl tert-butyl ether (MTBE), ethyl tert-butyl ether (ETBE).  I know these are not systematic names and as such anything could happen, but is there any (historical?) reason behind this inconsistency?  It would be greatly appreciated if this was clarified in the article(s), since these names are rather confusing for average (non-advanced) readers including myself.  Textbook says that butyl-, ethyl-, methyl- must be said in this (alphabetical) order, but then we have a name like methyl tert-butyl ether, which may mislead you into believing that tert-butyl is alphabetized under “t” (a wrong assumption which will only confuse you even more). — Gyopi (talk) 09:39, 3 July 2015 (UTC)
thread_title:  Trivial Names: "X Y ether" or "Y X ether"? 

message: This is what I hate about wikipedia. Saw the term ether on a TV show, wanted to find out what it was, come here and the entire article is chemistry mumbo jumbo. The average person isn't going to understand any of this. How about explaining what kind of chemical it is and its uses, in a way that isn't chock full of chemistry terms? Wiki articles tend to be way too literal.  — Preceding unsigned comment added by 24.137.115.238 (talk) 04:46, 12 November 2015 (UTC)
replies: text: AN unsigned commenter is actually right for once. You morons need to quit being so smart and realize that your article for ether contains virtually none of the information that the general public would come here to find... like uses and history and stuff. Of course that is kinda contained in the article for  diethyl ether, but is little help to the average person who arrives here by searching "Ether" wanting to find out about civil war medicine. Try to view the article from the vantage point of someone who has seen a member of the opposite sex without clothes on. Nerds. 206.113.15.122 (talk) 21:09, 11 January 2018 (UTC)
thread_title:  Typical Wiki 

message: Substituted at 14:43, 29 April 2016 (UTC)
thread_title: Assessment comment

message: what kind of element is R? 108.65.81.190 (talk) 17:42, 2 November 2016 (UTC)
replies: text: In typical organic chemistry nomenclature, R is used to denote an alkyl or aryl group, or other substituent.  I have added the missing definitions of R and R' to the article.  -- Ed (Edgar181) 18:18, 2 November 2016 (UTC)
thread_title: R?

message: Example: in English, we say pentyl phenyl ether. But here we say phenyl pentyl ether (fenil-pentil éter). Alfa-ketosav (talk) 14:31, 27 April 2018 (UTC)
thread_title:  Not everyone writes that that way. 

message: Methyl T-Butyl Ether was a controversial gasoline additive competing to "Oxygenate" gasoline, but Ethanol (and Iowa) won. Also more electrophilic that Ethyl ether, advantages for complexing Grignard reagents and Lithium compounds. Shjacks45 (talk) 11:04, 4 July 2019 (UTC)
thread_title:  Add MTBE to list of ethers