Petroleum ether is mostly used by pharmaceutical companies and in the manufacturing process. It is also commonly used for recreational purposes as an inhalant drug. It is a lightweight hydrocarbon used chiefly as a nonpolar solvent.
Petroleum ether mixtures are insoluble in water and hydrolysis is not expected to be significant. Based on water solubility and estimated bioconcentration factors, potential for bioconcentration in aquatic organisms is low to moderate.
Petroleum ether (pet ether): A petroleum distillation fraction having a low boiling range, typically around 30-60oC. Contains a mixture of low molecular weight aliphatic hydrocarbons. ... Some typical petroleum ether components.
It is truly an ether, in the language of organic nomenclature, since it has an oxygen atom with carbons on either side, which is the criteria for the ether classification. Strangely, petroleum ether is not an ether and, in fact, it is not even a single chemical.
