Grignard reagents are extensively used as alkylating and arylating agents, and also have applications as bases and polymerization initiators. Their high reactivity with many types of organic molecules make them valuable synthetic tools. However, their acceptance in industrial scale chemical processing has been limited by operational difficulties associated with manipulating highly volatile and flammable solvents like THF and diethyl ether used to produce them.
Novolyte's glymes, particularly butyl diglyme offer significant advantages over traditional Grignard solvents that make them attractive to industrial chemists:
- Higher boiling points than THF or diethyl ether
- Higher flash points than THF or diethyl ether
- Non-volatile
- Low water miscibility
- Better chemical stability over a wider temperature range than THF
- Reasonable stability in both dilute acid or caustic water solutions
- Butyl diglyme can improve yield and selectivity in Grignard reactions
- Butyl diglyme is recyclable to further reduce manufacturing costs – Novolyte can provide technical assistance to set up your recycling program
| Physical Property |
Novolyte EGLM |
Novolyte EDGL |
Novolyte BDGL |
THF |
Diethyl Ether |
| Boiling Point °C |
121 |
189 |
256 |
66 |
34 |
| Specific Gravity @ 20°C |
0.842 |
0.908 |
0.881 |
0.888 |
0.714 |
| Flash Point, °C (closed cup) |
57 |
90 |
118 |
-14 |
-45 |
| Vapor Pressure (mm Hg/20°C) |
9 |
0.5 |
<0.01 |
145 |
440 |
| Solubility in Water Wt% @ 25°C |
20.4 |
complete |
0.3 |
100 |
6.0 |
| Solubility of Water in Solvent Wt% @ 25°C |
3.3 |
complete |
1.4 |
100 |
1.3 |
EGLM — ethyl glyme (C6H14O2)
EDGL — ethyl diglyme (C8H18O3)
BDGL — butyl diglyme (C12H26O3)
For additional information, please request our technical brochure on Glymes and Grignards.