[happycamper723]

C₈H₁₇N is a stimulant and alkaloid occasionally used in pharmacology. It is soluble in ether. Could it also be soluble in ethanol? Why?

I don't just want to get an answer, I want to understand it.

[sjb]

C₈H₁₇N is a stimulant and alkaloid occasionally used in pharmacology. It is soluble in ether. Could it also be soluble in ethanol? Why?

I don't just want to get an answer, I want to understand it.

C₈H₁₇N could be any number of compounds, there are 502 listed at chemspider.com. Couple that with the fact that most things are soluble to some extent or a other in most solvents, a simple yes is all I can really offer you in answer to your question.

[Arkcon]

Hmmm ... tricky.  They've given you the barest bit of information, and ask a lot from you for it.  OK.  Assume they mean "true alkaloid", as defined here:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alkaloid#Classification  So the nitrogen is in a heterocycle aromatic ring.  Draw that out, and I dunno, make up some random functional groups from what's left over?  (Boy, this plan of mine went off the rails rapidly.)  Maybe, when you're done, the molecule is so non-polar it can't dissolve in ethanol?  That would seem to be the only thing you could prove.  There's nothing left, for hydrogen bonding, as an example.