[msb007]

Hey All

I know that "like dissolves like", so a polar molecule like chloroform (CHCl₃) would best dissolve in a polar solvent. My question is: Which of these two polar molecules (HNO₃ or CH₃OH) would be the best solvent for chloroform?

Now apparently I was told by my professor that CH₃OH is better because while HNO₃ is a polar molecule, its also an acid. I assumed that because HNO₃ has the same VSEPR geometry (in addition to being polar) that it would be better. Could someone help explain this to me? Is it simply because HNO₃ is an acid? I still did well on my test but hey.. every point counts right? 

[JustinCh3m]

have you heard of hydrogen bonding?

[msb007]

Thanks for the input! I am aware of H-bonding. I was sort of looking for a definitive answer with an explanation. 

[camptzak]

methanol is a tetradhedral molecule
chloroform in a tetrahedron
Nitric acid is actually a planar molecule

also methanol is carbon based and so is chloroform, that could also have something to do with it.

[AWK]

methanol is miscible in chloroform
Chloroform reacts with nitric acid
http://books.google.pl/books?id=QV6cwXA9XkEC&pg=PA392&lpg=PA392&dq=Reaction+of+HNO3+with+CHCl3&source=bl&ots=qfEpYFFAof&sig=vuV6H00JtPECZ-BLhMLznztrhQw&hl=en&sa=X&ei=LCIJUMuKM8Gh4gSb1q2_Cg&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q=Reaction%20of%20HNO3%20with%20CHCl3&f=false