In chemistry, a protic solvent is a solvent that has a hydrogen atom bound to an oxygen (as in a hydroxyl group –OH), a nitrogen (as in an amine group –NH
2 or –NH–), or fluoride (as in hydrogen fluoride). In general terms, any solvent that contains a labile H+
is called a protic solvent. The molecules of such solvents readily donate protons (H+
) to solutes, often via hydrogen bonding. Water is the most common protic solvent. Conversely, polar aprotic solvents cannot donate protons but still have the ability to dissolve many salts.[1][2]
Methods for purification of common solvents are available[3]
Solvent | Chemical formula | Boiling point | Dielectric constant | Density | Dipole moment (D) |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Polar protic solvents | |||||
formic acid | HCO 2H |
101 °C | 58 | 1.21 g/mL | 1.41 D |
n-butanol | CH 3CH 2CH 2CH 2OH |
118 °C | 18 | 0.810 g/mL | 1.63 D |
isopropanol (IPA) | (CH 3) 2CH(OH) |
82 °C | 18 | 0.785 g/mL | 1.66 D |
nitromethane [note 2] | CH 3NO 2 |
101°C | 35.87 | 1.1371 g/mL | 3.56 D |
ethanol (EtOH) | CH 3CH 2OH |
79 °C | 24.55 | 0.789 g/mL | 1.69 D |
methanol (MeOH) | CH 3OH |
65 °C | 33 | 0.791 g/mL | 1.70 D |
Acetic acid (AcOH) | CH 3CO 2H |
118 °C | 6.2 | 1.049 g/mL | 1.74 D |
Water | H 2O |
100 °C | 80 | 1.000 g/mL | 1.85 D |
Original source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Protic solvent.
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