tert-Butyl methyl ether (CAS 1634-04-4): storage and disposal

On a college shelf it usually sits in the flammables cabinet beside diethyl ether, and that closeness causes confusion when bottles are reviewed. Label it clearly, as the same abbreviated name on a hand-written label could be read as a far more dangerous ether. Its place is a ventilated fire-resistant cabinet with spill containment, clear of ignition sources, with oxidisers and corrosive stock elsewhere. Strong acids deserve particular distance, since they break the ether apart and give off flammable gas, on top of the fire risk they already add. A volatile skin irritant does not suit an open tray on a bench, even for a short practical. Any cold storage needs a spark-free refrigerator.

Ageing is uneventful here: its structure resists the slow reaction with air that troubles other ethers, and it is not listed as a peroxide former. Clear, colourless liquid is what you should see, and it gives few visual signs however long it stands. So the useful checks are about the bottle. Look for a reduced level from a poor seal, a softened or leaking cap, staining around the neck and a label too faded to read. A clearly different colour or a thick residue would mean something else got in. That matters most when a label has gone, because an unidentified ether cannot be assumed to be this one, and an unknown bottle should stay closed until a specialist has seen it.

We arrange this by specialist collection. We do not publish a drain or general waste route for any chemical. It is normally packed in a flammable laboratory pack with compatible chemicals.

A flammable ether solvent cannot go into a sink, a drain, a general waste bin or a skip, and nobody should try to treat it first. Collection by a specialist is the only way out. Its awkward point is identification: list it by its full name with any abbreviation in brackets, so it is not mistaken for a peroxide forming ether and held back. Equally, do not assume an unlabelled ether bottle is this one. Shared waste bottles are another common fault, as extraction residues contain whatever was being extracted and need listing as a mixture, separate from neat stock. Give the volume and the state of the seal. Where a consignment note is needed, keep your copy for three years.

Usually held as: neat.

Tell us the container size and how many you hold. An estimate is enough to start with, and some items cannot be priced until someone has looked at them.