Mashed magnesium used to prepare Grignards without worrying about air

An image showing a material

Source: © Koji Kubota

Mechanochemical method avoids inert gas and dry solvents in classic organometallic reaction

Researchers at Hokkaido University, Japan, have discovered a new method to prepare Grignard reagents using mechanochemistry – and what’s more these reagents aren’t destroyed by air. ‘It’s easier and faster,’ says Deborah Crawford from the University of Bradford, UK, who was not involved in the study. ‘I would now employ [this] method if I was to need a Grignard.’