Question

Ether is more volatile than alcohol having the same molecular formula because of:
(a)- The dipolar character of ether
(b)- Alcohols having resonance
(c)- Intermolecular hydrogen bonding in ether
(d)- Intermolecular hydrogen bonding in alcohols

Answer 1

Hint: Volatility of a compound is based on the boiling point of the compound. The boiling point is based on the intermolecular hydrogen bonding formed by the compound. Ether has boiling point due to dipole-dipole interactions.

Complete step by step answer:
Ethers are isomeric with monohydric alcohols but their boiling points are much lower than those of the isomeric alcohols. Due which others are more volatile. This is due to the reason that unlike alcohol, ether does not form hydrogen bonds. As a result, ether does not show molecular association and hence have lower boiling points than the corresponding alcohols. For example, the boiling point of n-butyl alcohol is 390 K and that of diethyl ether is 307.6 K.
Due to weak dipole-dipole interactions, the boiling points of lower ether such as dimethyl ether and ethyl methyl ether are only higher than those of the n-alkanes having comparable molecular masses.
Alcohols are less volatile than ether because alcohols contain a hydrogen atom attached to the strongly electronegative oxygen atom. Therefore they form intermolecular hydrogen bonding. Alcohols exist as associated molecules.

So, the correct answer is “Option D”.

Note: You may get confused between the dipolar nature of ether and intermolecular hydrogen bonding in alcohols, the dipolar nature of ether does not affect the boiling point of the ether. The presence of an oxygen atom makes the ether less symmetrical and has a less boiling point.