Diethyl ether

Diethyl ether

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A putative cytochrome P450 enzyme is believed to metabolize diethyl ether.

Diethyl ether inhibits alcohol dehydrogenase, and thus slows down the metabolism of ethanol. It also inhibits metabolism of other drugs requiring oxidative metabolism.


Diethyl ether is a common laboratory solvent. It has limited solubility in water, thus it is commonly used for liquid-liquid extraction. Being less dense than water, the ether layer is usually on top. Diethyl ether is a common solvent for the Grignard reaction, and for many other reactions involving organometallic reagents. It is particularly important as a solvent in the production of cellulose plastics such as cellulose acetate. Diethyl ether has a high cetane number of 85 - 96 and is used as a starting fluid for diesel and gasoline engines because of its high volatility and low autoignition temperature.

Anesthetic use

The American doctor Crawford Williamson Long, M.D., was the first surgeon to use it as a general anesthetic, on March 30, 1842. William T.G. Morton was previously credited with the first public demonstration of ether anesthesia on October 16, 1846 at the Ether Dome in Boston, Massachusetts, although Dr. Crawford Long is now known to have demonstrated its use publicly to other officials in Georgia. Ether was sometimes used in place of chloroform because it had a higher therapeutic index, a larger difference between the recommended dosage and a toxic overdose. Ether is still the preferred anesthetic in some developing nations due to its high therapeutic index (~1.5-2.2) and low price.




Recreational use


Ether, mixed with ethanol, was marketed in the 19th century as a cure-all and recreational drug, during one of Western society's temperance movements. At the time, it was considered improper for women to consume alcoholic beverages at social functions, and sometimes ether-containing drugs would be consumed instead. A cough medicine called Hoffmann's Drops was marketed at the time as one of these drugs, and contained both ether and alcohol in its capsules. Ether tends to be difficult to consume alone, and thus was often mixed with drugs like ethanol for recreational use. Ether may also be used as an inhalant.





CH3CH2OH + H+ → CH3CH2OH2+


CH3CH2OH2+ + CH3CH2OH → H2O + H+ + CH3CH2OCH2CH3






Cultural references

Recreational use of diethyl ether was portrayed in the film Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, based on the book of the same name by Hunter S. Thompson, and portrayed in the novel The Cider House Rules by John Irving and in the film adaptation of the same name. An example of ether being used as a drug in the 19th century is to be found in Italo Svevo's novel Senilità (1898). One of the main characters, Amalia, a reticent spinster in her early thirties, has become addicted to ether, falls into delirium and dies. It is also mentioned in Raymond Chandler's novel "The Big Sleep", in which he describes one of the characters under the influence of it.

In an episode of The Simpsons, Mr. Burns gets high on ether and drills into the skull of Hans Moleman.

At the end of Water, Water Every Hare, a flask of ether is broken when the evil scientist is chasing Bugs Bunny which causes them to move and speak slowly and fall asleep.

In the television series M*A*S*H, ether is occasionally used as anesthesia for patients being treated.


External links

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