X-Message-Number: 7712
Date: 20 Feb 97 13:24:32 EST
From: Michael Darwin <>
Subject: Ether

Gerald Olschewski writes:

>As far as I know ether forms only peroxides under the influence of 
>air and light, thus forming radicals, which in the end leads to 
>considerable formation of hydroperoxides, that really make ether 
>dangerous to handle, especially older and improperly stored charges.

Thanks for the correction.  You are right.  Which makes old ether all the more
dangerous.  I have never seen ether packaged in anything other than in metal
bottles.  Anesthetic ether comes in a single use tin with a top which must be
punctured.  Hugh Hixon taught me the ether basics years ago and he set a limit
of 1-2 years on how long he'd let me keep an open container around. (no
reflection on Hugh that I fogot it was air and light rather than H20 that
created the peroxides!) I guess this is reasonable.  Gerald, do you have
specific information on how long ether can be stored?  This is of more than
passing interest since we will probably soon be working with ether on a regular
basis.  We _do_ have explosion proof refrigerators.

Thanks,

Mike Darwin


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