Structure and Bonding
Ethers feature C-O-C linkage defined by a bond angle of about 104.5° and C-O distances of about 140 pm. The barrier to rotation about the C-O bonds is low. The bonding of oxygen in ethers, alcohols, and water is similar. In the language of valence bond theory, the hybridization at oxygen is sp3.
Oxygen is more electronegative than carbon, thus the hydrogens alpha to ethers are more acidic than in simple hydrocarbons. They are far less acidic than hydrogens alpha to carbonyl groups (such as in ketones or aldehydes), however.
- Depending on the groups at R and R', ether is classified into two types:
1) Simple ethers or symmetrical ethers 2) Mixed ethers or asymmetrical ethers
Read more about this topic: Ether
Famous quotes containing the words structure and, structure and/or bonding:
“Slumism is the pent-up anger of people living on the outside of affluence. Slumism is decay of structure and deterioration of the human spirit. Slumism is a virus which spreads through the body politic. As other “isms,” it breeds disorder and demagoguery and hate.”
—Hubert H. Humphrey (1911–1978)
“A special feature of the structure of our book is the monstrous but perfectly organic part that eavesdropping plays in it.”
—Vladimir Nabokov (1899–1977)
“At the heart of male bonding is this experience of boys in early puberty: they know they must break free from their mothers and the civilized world of women, but they are not ready yet for the world of men, so they are only at home with other boys, equally outcast, equally frightened, and equally involved in posturing what they believe to be manhood.”
—Frank Pittman (20th century)