Grignard and alcohol
Started by JustwantDDS
ch3ch2MgCl will attack....which C?
the answer says ethane
i thought that was off
the answer says ethane
i thought that was off
You would only get an ethane if there was an acidic proton in which Gringard could react with.
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so, can you explain the mechanism a bit for this one?
thanks
thanks
I'm confused myself right now lol. You'd have CH3CH2MgCl first which will act as a nucleophile, then I believe it would attack the the ethanol, forming this:
CH3CH3 + CH3CH2O-MgCl+
why isnt the answer Ch3CH(OH)Ch2Ch3?
Gringard always reacts with the most acidic proton first. Here, CH3CH2MgCl will attack the acidic proton of the alcohol.
smart! so basically its taking off the H from the alcohol so thats gonna get you that diethyl ether right?
its the little things that seem to get me!
Nope, this is why you shouldn't do reactions in your head all the time. I made the same mistake at first. But it should give you an ethane as I showed the mechanism in my earlier post.
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so whats the final answer?
got it! hope the real dat doesnt have anything this funky!
basically if there a protic solvent, ethanol, it makes an alkane..........
I thought it was diethyl ether as well.
How would that mechanism look like? The grignard is an extremely basic molecule. I think the grignard lab really reinforced the fact that it is a strongly basic. Anyways, acid/base reactions are almost always rapid and exothermic. Even if there was another functional group on the substrate, say a carbonyl, the grignard will deprotonate the alcohol first.
