Why is acetonitrile more polar than acetaldehyde

Solvent	Polarity Index	Dipole moment	Dielectric Constant	Boiling Point	Freezing Point
Pentane	0.0	0	1.84	36.1	-129.7
Cyclopentane	0.1	0	1.97	49.3	-93.9
Heptane	0.1	0	1.92	98.4	-90.6
Hexane	0.1	0.08	1.88	68.7	-95.3
Cyclohexane	0.2	0	2.02	80.7	6.5
Toluene	2.4	0.31	2.38	110.6	-94.5
o-Xylene	2.5	0.45	2.57	144.4	-25.2
Chlorobenzene	2.7	1.54	5.62	131.7	-45.6
o-Dichlorobenzene	2.7	2.14	9.93	180.5	-17.0
Diethyl Ether	2.8	1.15	4.33	34.5	-117.4
Dichloromethane	3.1	1.14	8.93	39.7	-95.1
1,2-Dichloroethane	3.5	1.83	10.36	83.5	-35.7
Isopropyl Alcohol	3.9	1.66	19.92	82.3	-88.0
n-Butyl Acetate	4.0	1.84	5.01	126.1	-73.5
n-Propyl Alcohol	4.0	3.09	20.33	97.2	-126.2
Ethyl Alcohol	-	1.66	24.55	78.3	-114.1
Glyme	-	1.71	7.20	84.5	-69
Tetrahydrofuran	4.0	1.75	7.58	66	-108.5
Chloroform	4.1	1.15	4.81	61.1	-63.5
Ethyl Acetate	4.4	1.88	6.02	77.1	-84.0
Ethyl Methyl Ketone	4.7	2.76	18.51	79.6	-86.7
1,4-Dioxane	4.8	0.45	2.25	101.3	11.8
Acetone	5.1	2.69	20.7	56.3	-94.7
Methanol	5.1	2.87	32.70	64.7	-97.7
Pyridine	5.3	2.37	12.4	115.2	-41.5
2-MethoxyEthanol	5.5	2.04	16.93	124.6	-85.1
Acetonitrile	5.8	3.44	37.5	81.6	-43.8
N,N-DimethylFormamide	6.4	3.86	36.71	153.0	-60.4
DimethylAcetamide	6.5	3.72	37.78	166.1	-20
N-MethylPyrrolidone	6.7	4.09	32.2	202	-24.4
Dimethyl Sulfoxide	7.2	4.1	46.68	189	18.5
Water	10.2	1.87	80.1	100.0	0.0

Values Taken from http://www.bandj.com/BJProduct/SolProperties/Polarity.html
For reference and additional solvents follow this Link. Compiled by A.Chandrasekaran

Properties of Organic Solvents

The values in the table below except as noted have been extracted from online and hardbound compilations . Values for relative polarity, eluant strength, threshold limits and vapor pressure have been extracted from: Christian Reichardt, Solvents and Solvent Effects in Organic Chemistry, Wiley-VCH Publishers, 3rd ed., 2003. http://www.knovel.com/web/portal/browse/display?_EXT_KNOVEL_DISPLAY_bookid=761
http://chem.sis.nlm.nih.gov/chemidplus/chemidlite.jsp
The tables below were posted (10/23/98) and revised (07/28/09) and updated (04/10/10) by Steve Murov, Professor Emeritus of Chemistry.

Table 1 arranged alphabetically, Table 2 arranged according to increasing polarity

TABLE 1

Solvent	formula	boiling point (oC)	melting point (oC)	density (g/mL)	solubility in H2O1 (g/100g)	relative polarity2	eluant strength3	threshold limits4 (ppm)	vapor pressure 20oC (hPa)
acetic acid	C2H4O2	118	16.6	1.049	M	0.648	>1	10	15.3
acetone	C3H6O	56.2	-94.3	0.786	M	0.355	0.56	500	240
acetonitrile	C2H3N	81.6	-46	0.786	M	0.460	0.65	20	97
acetyl acetone	C5H8O2	140.4	-23	0.975	16	0.571
2-aminoethanol	C2H7NO	170.9	10.5	1.018	M	0.651		3	0.53
aniline	C6H7N	184.4	-6.0	1.022	3.4	0.420		2	0.4
anisole	C7H8O	153.7	-37.5	0.996	0.10	0.198
benzene	C6H6	80.1	5.5	0.879	0.18	0.111	0.32	0.5	101
benzonitrile	C7H5N	205	-13	0.996	0.2	0.333		10	12
benzyl alcohol	C7H8O	205.4	-15.3	1.042	3.5	0.608
1-butanol	C4H10O	117.6	-89.5	0.81	7.7	0.586		20	6.3
2-butanol	C4H10O	99.5	-114.7	0.808	18.1	0.506		100
i-butanol	C4H10O	107.9	-108.2	0.803	8.5	0.552
2-butanone	C4H8O	79.6	-86.3	0.805	25.6	0.327	0.51	200	105
t-butyl alcohol	C4H10O	82.2	25.5	0.786	M	0.389		100	41
carbon disulfide	CS2	46.3	-111.6	1.263	0.2	0.065	0.15	10	400
carbon tetrachloride	CCl4	76.7	-22.4	1.594	0.08	0.052	0.18	5	120
chlorobenzene	C6H5Cl	132	-45.6	1.106	0.05	0.188	0.30	10	12
chloroform	CHCl3	61.2	-63.5	1.498	0.8	0.259		10	210
cyclohexane	C6H12	80.7	6.6	0.779	0.005	0.006	0.04	100	104
cyclohexanol	C6H12O	161.1	25.2	0.962	4.2	0.509		50	1.2
cyclohexanone	C6H10O	155.6	-16.4	0.948	2.3	0.281		25	5
di-n-butylphthalate	C16H22O4	340	-35	1.049	0.0011	0.272
1,1-dichloroethane	C2H4Cl2	57.3	-97.0	1.176	0.5	0.269		100	240
diethylene glycol	C4H10O3	245	-10	1.118	M	0.713			0.027
diglyme	C6H14O3	162	-64	0.945	M	0.244
dimethoxyethane (glyme)	C4H10O2	85	-58	0.868	M	0.231
N,N-dimethylaniline	C8H11N	194.2	2.4	0.956	0.14	0.179
dimethylformamide (DMF)	C3H7NO	153	-61	0.944	M	0.386		10	3.5
dimethylphthalate	C10H10O4	283.8	1	1.190	0.43	0.309
dimethylsulfoxide (DMSO)	C2H6OS	189	18.4	1.092	M	0.444	0.75
dioxane	C4H8O2	101.1	11.8	1.033	M	0.164	0.56	20	41
ethanol	C2H6O	78.5	-114.1	0.789	M	0.654	0.88	100	59
ether	C4H10O	34.6	-116.3	0.713	7.5	0.117	0.38	400	587
ethyl acetate	C4H8O2	77	-83.6	0.894	8.7	0.228	0.58	400	97
ethyl acetoacetate	C6H10O3	180.4	-80	1.028	2.9	0.577
ethyl benzoate	C9H10O2	213	-34.6	1.047	0.07	0.228
ethylene glycol	C2H6O2	197	-13	1.115	M	0.790	1.11
glycerin	C3H8O3	290	17.8	1.261	M	0.812
heptane	C7H16	98	-90.6	0.684	0.0003	0.012		400	48
1-heptanol	C7H16O	176.4	-35	0.819	0.17	0.549
hexane	C6H14	69	-95	0.655	0.0014	0.009	0.01	50	160
1-hexanol	C6H14O	158	-46.7	0.814	0.59	0.559
methanol	CH4O	64.6	-98	0.791	M	0.762	0.95	200	128
methyl acetate	C3H6O2	56.9	-98.1	0.933	24.4	0.253		200	220
methyl t-butyl ether (MTBE)	C5H12O	55.2	-109	0.741	4.8	0.124	0.20
methylene chloride	CH2Cl2	39.8	-96.7	1.326	1.32	0.309	0.42	50	475
1-octanol	C8H18O	194.4	-15	0.827	0.096	0.537
pentane	C5H12	36.1	-129.7	0.626	0.004	0.009	0.00	600	573
1-pentanol	C5H12O	138.0	-78.2	0.814	2.2	0.568
2-pentanol	C5H12O	119.0	-50	0.810	4.5	0.488
3-pentanol	C5H12O	115.3	-8	0.821	5.1	0.463
2-pentanone	C5H10O	102.3	-76.9	0.809	4.3	0.321
3-pentanone	C5H12O	101.7	-39.8	0.814	3.4	0.265		200
1-propanol	C3H8O	97	-126	0.803	M	0.617	0.82
2-propanol	C3H8O	82.4	-88.5	0.785	M	0.546	0.82	400	44
pyridine	C5H5N	115.5	-42	0.982	M	0.302	0.71	5	20
tetrahydrofuran(THF)	C4H8O	66	-108.4	0.886	30	0.207	0.57	200	200
toluene	C7H8	110.6	-93	0.867	0.05	0.099	0.29	50	29
water	H2O	100.00	0.00	0.998	M	1.000	>>1
water, heavy	D2O	101.3	4	1.107	M	0.991
p-xylene	C8H10	138.3	13.3	0.861	0.02	0.074	0.26	100	15

1    M = miscible.
2    The values for relative polarity are normalized from measurements of solvent shifts of absorption spectra and were
      extracted from Christian Reichardt, Solvents and Solvent Effects in Organic Chemistry, Wiley-VCH Publishers, 3rd ed., 2003.
3     Snyder's empirical eluant strength parameter for alumina. Extracted from Reichardt, page 495.
4   Threshold limits for exposure. Extracted from Reichardt, pages 501-502.

TABLE 2

Solvent	formula	boiling point (oC)	melting point (oC)	density (g/mL)	solubility in H2O1 (g/100g)	relative polarity2	eluant strength3	threshold limits4 (ppm)	vapor pressure 20oC (hPa)
cyclohexane	C6H12	80.7	6.6	0.779	0.005	0.006	0.04	100	104
pentane	C5H12	36.1	-129.7	0.626	0.0039	0.009	0.00	600	573
hexane	C6H14	69	-95	0.655	0.0014	0.009	0.01	50	160
heptane	C7H16	98	-90.6	0.684	0.0003	0.012		400	48
carbon tetrachloride	CCl4	76.7	-22.4	1.594	0.08	0.052	0.18	5	120
carbon disulfide	CS2	46.3	-111.6	1.263	0.2	0.065	0.15	10	400
p-xylene	C8H10	138.3	13.3	0.861	0.02	0.074	0.26	100	15
toluene	C7H8	110.6	-93	0.867	0.05	0.099	0.24	50	29
benzene	C6H6	80.1	5.5	0.879	0.18	0.111	0.32	0.5	101
ether	C4H10O	34.6	-116.3	0.713	7.5	0.117	0.38	400	587
methyl t-butyl ether (MTBE)	C5H12O	55.2	-109	0.741	4.8	0.124	0.20
diethylamine	C4H11N	56.3	-48	0.706	M	0.145	0.63	5	260
dioxane	C4H8O2	101.1	11.8	1.033	M	0.164	0.56	20	41
N,N-dimethylaniline	C8H11N	194.2	2.4	0.956	0.14	0.179
chlorobenzene	C6H5Cl	132	-45.6	1.106	0.05	0.188	0.30	10	12
anisole	C7H8O	153.7	-37.5	0.996	0.10	0.198
tetrahydrofuran (THF)	C4H8O	66	-108.4	0.886	30	0.207	0.57	200	200
ethyl acetate	C4H8O2	77	-83.6	0.894	8.7	0.228	0.57	400	97
ethyl benzoate	C9H10O2	213	-34.6	1.047	0.07	0.228
dimethoxyethane (glyme)	C4H10O2	85	-58	0.868	M	0.231
diglyme	C6H14O3	162	-64	0.945	M	0.244
methyl acetate	C3H6O2	56.9	-98.1	0.933	24.4	0.253		200	220
chloroform	CHCl3	61.2	-63.5	1.498	0.8	0.259	0.40	10	210
3-pentanone	C5H12O	101.7	-39.8	0.814	3.4	0.265		200
1,1-dichloroethane	C2H4Cl2	57.3	-97.0	1.176	0.5	0.269		100	240
di-n-butyl phthalate	C16H22O4	340	-35	1.049	0.0011	0.272
cyclohexanone	C6H10O	155.6	-16.4	0.948	2.3	0.281		25	5
pyridine	C5H5N	115.5	-42	0.982	M	0.302	0.71	5	20
dimethylphthalate	C10H10O4	283.8	1	1.190	0.43	0.309
methylene chloride	CH2Cl2	39.8	-96.7	1.326	1.32	0.309	0.42	50	475
2-pentanone	C5H10O	102.3	-76.9	0.809	4.3	0.321
2-butanone	C4H8O	79.6	-86.3	0.805	25.6	0.327	0.51	200	105
1,2-dichloroethane	C2H4Cl2	83.5	-35.4	1.235	0.87	0.327
benzonitrile	C7H5N	205	-13	0.996	0.2	0.333		10	12
acetone	C3H6O	56.2	-94.3	0.786	M	0.355	0.56	500	240
dimethylformamide (DMF)	C3H7NO	153	-61	0.944	M	0.386		10	3.5
t-butyl alcohol	C4H10O	82.2	25.5	0.786	M	0.389		100	41
aniline	C6H7N	184.4	-6.0	1.022	3.4	0.420		2	0.4
dimethylsulfoxide (DMSO)	C2H6OS	189	18.4	1.092	M	0.444	0.75
acetonitrile	C2H3N	81.6	-46	0.786	M	0.460	0.65	20	97
3-pentanol	C5H12O	115.3	-8	0.821	5.1	0.463
2-pentanol	C5H12O	119.0	-50	0.810	4.5	0.488
2-butanol	C4H10O	99.5	-114.7	0.808	18.1	0.506		100
cyclohexanol	C6H12O	161.1	25.2	0.962	4.2	0.509		50	1.2
1-octanol	C8H18O	194.4	-15	0.827	0.096	0.537
2-propanol	C3H8O	82.4	-88.5	0.785	M	0.546	0.82	400	44
1-heptanol	C7H16O	176.4	-35	0.819	0.17	0.549
i-butanol	C4H10O	107.9	-108.2	0.803	8.5	0.552
1-hexanol	C6H14O	158	-46.7	0.814	0.59	0.559
1-pentanol	C5H12O	138.0	-78.2	0.814	2.2	0.568
acetyl acetone	C5H8O2	140.4	-23	0.975	16	0.571
ethyl acetoacetate	C6H10O3	180.4	-80	1.028	2.9	0.577
1-butanol	C4H10O	117.6	-89.5	0.81	7.7	0.586		20	6.3
benzyl alcohol	C7H8O	205.4	-15.3	1.042	3.5	0.608
1-propanol	C3H8O	97	-126	0.803	M	0.617	0.82
acetic acid	C2H4O2	118	16.6	1.049	M	0.648	>1	10	15.3
2-aminoethanol	C2H7NO	170.9	10.5	1.018	M	0.651		3	0.53
ethanol	C2H6O	78.5	-114.1	0.789	M	0.654	0.88	1000	59
diethylene glycol	C4H10O3	245	-10	1.118	M	0.713			0.027
methanol	CH4O	64.6	-98	0.791	M	0.762	0.95	200	128
ethylene glycol	C2H6O2	197	-13	1.115	M	0.790	1.11
glycerin	C3H8O3	290	17.8	1.261	M	0.812
water, heavy	D2O	101.3	4	1.107	M	0.991
water	H2O	100.00	0.00	0.998	M	1.000	>>1

Spectra (of solvents and other compounds)

1. ir, nmr, mass spectra
    Aldrich - http://www.sigmaaldrich.com/
    NIMC site - http://riodb01.ibase.aist.go.jp/sdbs/cgi-bin/cre_index.cgi?lang=eng
    RSC - http://www.rsc.org/education/teachers/learnnet/spectra/index2.htm

2. ir, mass spectra, uv-vis
NIST site - http://webbook.nist.gov/chemistry/

3. ir
Acros - http://www.acros.com/portal/alias__Rainbow/lang__en/tabID__21/DesktopDefault.aspx
ChemExper Chem Directory - http://www.chemexper.com/

4. nmr

human metabolites - http://hmdb.ca/ (also some mass spectra)
        bioorganics - http://mmcd.nmrfam.wisc.edu/mmcdbrowse.html
     Solvents - http://www.alsnotebook.com/chlorformtraces.html

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