How to Prepare Ethyl Magnesium Iodide from Ethyl Iodide

How do you prepare ethyl magnesium iodide from ethyl iodide?

a) React ethyl iodide with magnesium in anhydrous ether. b) React ethyl iodide with magnesium in water. c) React ethyl iodide with magnesium in the presence of oxygen. d) Ethyl magnesium iodide cannot be prepared from ethyl iodide. Final answer:

Answer:

Ethyl magnesium iodide can be prepared from ethyl iodide by reacting it with magnesium metal in anhydrous ether. The use of the anhydrous ether solvent prevents the magnesium from reacting with any moisture. Please ensure you perform this experiment under a trained professional as the reaction generates heat.

Ethyl magnesium iodide can be prepared from ethyl iodide by reacting ethyl iodide with magnesium in anhydrous ether. This reaction is part of the group of chemical reactions called Grignard reactions named after French chemist François Auguste Victor Grignard. The use of anhydrous ether as a solvent is critical because water or the presence of other protic substances can interfere with the reaction, as magnesium acquires a layer of oxide in moist air which is impervious to many chemical attacks.

Ethyl iodide (also called iodoethane CH3CH2I) is mixed with small pieces of magnesium metal in anhydrous ether.

This reaction leads to the formation of ethyl magnesium iodide (C2H5MgI), along with the evolution of heat.