Source: Dr. Melanie Pribisko Yen and Grace Tang — California Institute of Technology

Rotary evaporation is a technique most commonly used in organic chemistry to remove a solvent from a higher-boiling point compound of interest. The rotary evaporator, or "rotovap", was invented in 1950 by the chemist Lyman C. Craig. The primary use of a rotovap is to dry and purify samples for downstream applications. Its speed and ability to handle large volumes of solvent make rotary evaporation a preferred method of solvent removal in many laboratories, especially in instances involving low boiling point solvents.