 A more extreme example is the azeotrope of 1.2% water with 98.8% diethyl ether.Ether holds the last bit of water so tenaciously that only a very powerful desiccant such as sodium metal added to the liquid phase can result in completely dry ether.Anhydrous calcium chloride is used as a desiccant for drying a wide variety of solvents since it is inexpensive and does not react with most nonaqueous solvents.