During the synthesis of a Grignard reagent in diethyl ether solvent, what is the identity of the bubbles that show up on the surface of the magnesium?
-Gaseous magnesium byproducts
-Gaseous O2
-Gaseous H2
-Gaseous diethyl ether
The identity of the bubbles that show up on the surface of the magnesium during the synthesis of a Grignard reagent in diethyl ether solvent is gaseous hydrogen (H2).
To determine this, we can consider the chemical equation involved in the reaction. In the synthesis of a Grignard reagent, a metal (such as magnesium) reacts with an organic halide in the presence of a solvent like diethyl ether (C4H10O). The reaction can be represented as:
RMgX + Mg(s) → R-Mg-X-MgR + MgX2
In this equation, the solid magnesium (Mg) is reacting with the organic halide (RMgX) to form the Grignard reagent (R-Mg-X-MgR) and magnesium halide (MgX2). The gaseous hydrogen byproduct, H2, is released during this reaction.
So, during the synthesis, when magnesium reacts with the organic halide in diethyl ether, bubbles on the surface of the magnesium are composed of gaseous hydrogen (H2).