Cadmium compounds from Grignard reagents

Organocadmium compounds can be prepared from Grignard reagents or organo-lithium compounds by reaction with Cd(II) salts.180 They can also be prepared directly from alkyl, benzyl, and aryl halides by reaction with highly reactive cadmium metal generated by reduction of Cd(II) salts.181... 

Grignard reagents derived from aryl bromides are readily prepared and may be converted into organocadmium compounds by treatment with cadmium chloride (cf. Section 5.8.4, p. 616). Reaction of an organocadmium with a carboxylic acid chloride constitutes a convenient synthesis of aryl alkyl ketones. 

Recent investigations have shown that the reactivity of organocadmium compounds is increased by the presence of magnesium salts if prepared in solution from a Grignard reagent and a cadmium halide, dialkylcadmiums — the members most studied — are appreciably more reactive than pure dialkylcadmiums in ether.158... 

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