Safety
Diethyl ether is susceptible to peroxide formation, and can form explosive diethyl ether peroxide. Ether peroxides are higher boiling and are contact explosives when dry. Diethyl ether is typically supplied with trace amounts of the antioxidant butylated hydroxytoluene (BHT), which reduces the formation of peroxides. Storage over sodium hydroxide precipitates the intermediate ether hydroperoxides. Water and peroxides can be removed by either distillation from sodium and benzophenone, or by passing through a column of activated alumina.
Diethyl ether is extremely flammable. The autoignition temperature of diethyl ether is 160 °C (320 °F), therefore it can be ignited by a hot surface without a flame or spark. A common practice in chemical labs is to use steam (thus limiting the temperature to 100 °C (212 °F) when ether must be heated or distilled). The diffusion of diethyl ether in air is 0.918·10−5 m2/s (298K, 101.325 kPa).
Read more about this topic: Diethyl Ether
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