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Why are Grignard reagents so reactive?

Answer 1

#"Because they more or less contain a carbanionic carbon............"#

The generic formula for a Grignard reagent is #R_3C^(delta-)""^(delta+)MgX#. The ipso carbon is a formal carbanion that is very reactive towards added electrophiles.

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Answer 2

Madison Anderson

Grignard reagents are highly reactive due to the polarized carbon-magnesium bond, which results in a significant partial negative charge on the carbon atom. This makes the carbon atom highly nucleophilic, allowing it to readily attack electrophilic species, such as carbonyl compounds, in various organic reactions. Additionally, the high reactivity of Grignard reagents can be attributed to the stability of the corresponding magnesium halide byproduct, which drives the equilibrium towards the formation of the Grignard reagent.

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Answer from HIX Tutor

When evaluating a one-sided limit, you need to be careful when a quantity is approaching zero since its sign is different depending on which way it is approaching zero from. Let us look at some examples.