[MecatronVels]

Sulfuric acid is not the appropriate dehydrator to prepare pure methoxy-ethane ether, (CH3OCH2CH3), from an equimolar mixture of methanol (CH3OH) and ethanol (CH3CH2OH), because:

Answer: It also produces other ethers

Can someone help me? Why is that answer?

[Borek]

What would happen if you use methanol only?

[penta-d]

What would happen if you use methanol only?

Yep, that is a good way to think about it. And if you don't know what would happen in that simpler case, it might help to look at the general reaction mechanism which you should be able to find by doing a web search using a combination of terms like: "synthesis of ethers," "mechanism," and "sufuric acid."

[Meter]

What would happen if you use methanol only?

Yep, that is a good way to think about it. And if you don't know what would happen in that simpler case, it might help to look at the general reaction mechanism which you should be able to find by doing a web search using a combination of terms like: "synthesis of ethers," "mechanism," and "sufuric acid."

Master Organic Chemistry seems like a good reference for exactly this.