Pre-drying organic solutions with brine

Brine (sat. aqueous solution of sodium chloride) is a very ionic medium. Water, a polar substance, is more comfortable to be in the ionic medium than in less or nonpolar organic solvents. Therefore, if you shake a wet organic solution with brine, most of the water molecules move to the brine layer.

This pre-drying process should be done before you use a drying agent.