{"id":5013,"date":"2012-04-27T17:31:42","date_gmt":"2012-04-27T17:31:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.masterorganicchemistry.com\/?p=5013"},"modified":"2026-04-18T06:14:31","modified_gmt":"2026-04-18T11:14:31","slug":"polar-protic-polar-aprotic-nonpolar-all-about-solvents","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.masterorganicchemistry.com\/2012\/04\/27\/polar-protic-polar-aprotic-nonpolar-all-about-solvents\/","title":{"rendered":"Polar Protic? Polar Aprotic? Nonpolar? All About Solvents"},"content":{"rendered":"

Polar Protic vs Polar Aprotic vs Nonpolar: About Solvents In Organic Chemistry<\/strong><\/p>\n

A lot of students I talk to have questions about solvents.<\/p>\n

Solvents can cause considerable confusion in reactions, because they’re listed along with the reagents of a reaction but often don’t actually participate in the reaction itself. And to be honest, a lot of instructors (myself included) are less than consistent about when to include solvents and when not to. So the whole exercise can come across as somewhat arbitrary: when do you know when to include the solvent?<\/p>\n

\"summary<\/a><\/p>\n

Table Of Contents<\/strong><\/p>\n

    \n
  1. What Is A Solvent?<\/a><\/li>\n
  2. What Does “Polar” and “Non-Polar” Mean?<\/a><\/li>\n
  3. The Distinction Between “Protic” And “Aprotic” Solvents<\/a><\/li>\n
  4. Nonpolar Solvents: A Table<\/a><\/li>\n
  5. “Borderline” Polar Aprotic Solvents<\/a><\/li>\n
  6. Polar Aprotic Solvents: A Table<\/a><\/li>\n
  7. Polar Protic Solvents: A Table<\/a><\/li>\n
  8. Notes<\/a><\/li>\n
  9. Quiz Yourself!<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
    \n

    <\/a>1. What Is A Solvent?<\/h2>\n

    Let’s back up. What’s a solvent, anyway?<\/p>\n

    A solvent is a liquid<\/strong> that serves as the medium for a reaction. It can serve two major purposes:<\/p>\n

      \n
    1. (Non-participatory)\u00a0to dissolve the reactants.<\/strong> Remember “like dissolves like” ? Polar solvents are best for dissolving polar reactants (such as ions); nonpolar solvents are best for dissolving nonpolar reactants (such as hydrocarbons).<\/li>\n
    2. Participatory: \u00a0as a source of acid<\/strong> (proton), base<\/strong> (removing protons), or as a nucleophile<\/strong> (donating a lone pair of electrons). The only class of solvents for which this is something you generally need to worry about are polar protic solvents (see below<\/a>).<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

      <\/a>2.\u00a0 Polar Solvents Have Large Dipole Moments. Non-Polar Solvents Have Small Or Zero Dipole Moment<\/h2>\n

      OK. So what does “polar” and “non-polar” mean?<\/p>\n