Magnesium organometallics preparation methods

Pentamethylantimony was the first It6Sb species to be obtained by Wittig and Torssell in 1955 (104) Various other derivatives of this type have since been synthesized, and a range of preparative methods has been described. Among these are the alkylation of RiSbX, R3SbX2, and SbX species with organometallic compounds of lithium, magnesium, aluminum,... 

It occurs with the alkyls, aryls or acetylides of metals more electropositive than magnesium, but including Grignard reagents, and is often carried out by adding a solution of the organometallic compound in an inert solvent to a large excess of powdered, solid C02 it is a particularly useful method for the preparation of acetylenic acids. The Kolbe-Schmidt reaction (p. 291) is another example of carbanion carbonation. 

The Grignard reaction is often one of the first reactions encountered for the preparation of organometallic compounds. As such it provides a method for the conversion of an alkyl bromide to an alkane. From the example shown below it is seen that the overall oxidation level change from the organic reactants to the products is from 0 to —2, so a reduction has occurred. Magnesium is the reductant and is itself oxidized from 0 to +2 oxidation state. The actual reduction takes place in the first step of the process in which the C-Br bond is converted to a C-Mg-Br bond. The reaction with water is merely a hydrolysis that does not change the oxidation state of carbon. 

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