A commercially available Grignard reagent (3.0 M solution of phenyl magnesium bromide in ether) was used in a convenient Grignard synthesis in a second-year organic chemistry laboratory without any of the typical failures associated with the Grignard reaction. The reaction setup used oven-dried glassware and no extraordinary measures were taken to keep the reaction under inert atmosphere. The Grignard reagent was dispensed into students' reaction vessels by the instructor. The students then slowly added a solution of a ketone. The yields of the resulting tertiary alcohols were good to excellent. Additional activities included determination of recrystallization solvent and characterization of their purified products using TLC, mp, IR, and NMR spectroscopy. This lab was used as the student's first exposure to a synthesis-type experiment and occurred early in the second-semester organic course corresponding to the lecture material concerning Grignard reactions.
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