Ask A Scientist Chemistry Archive

Question:  What it is for and how/where I can get petroleum ether?
william xu xu 
 
Answer:  Petroleum ether isn't an ether at all really.  An ether is a
compound that has a C-O-C connection.  Pet ether is actually
a mixture of hydrocarbons.  It's usually pretty cheap because
the individual compounds aren't separated out (like hexanes,
pentanes, heptanes...).  Pet ether is used as a solvent and
can be obtained from any chemical supplier (Aldrich, Fisher,
VWR, EM).
-Joe Schultz