Grignard Reagents: What They Make and What Destroys Them
Organic Chemistry · Reagents Grignard Reagents: What They Make and What Destroys Them One reagent class that builds carbon skeletons, and one failure mode that ruins more exam answers than any other. BSc & MSc · Organic Chemistry · Method The short answer: A Grignard reagent is a carbon nucleophile, effectively a carbanion. It attacks carbonyl carbons to build new carbon–carbon bonds, and the product depends entirely on which carbonyl it attacks. It is destroyed instantly by any acidic hydrogen, which is the constraint that governs how it can be used. What it is An alkyl or aryl magnesium halide,…