Methylmagnesium iodide from Merck.

This Grignard reagent was made at least 50 years ago, but since it is packed in glass ampules it is just as good when it was made. A lot chemicals often decompose upon standing and they can be purified again or should be thrown out after a few years. But some Grignard reagents if stored under an inert gas such as argon in dark, in a well sealed packing like a glass ampule shows no degradation even after decades.

Something interesting: François Auguste Victor Grignard (May 6, 1871 - December 13, 1935) discovered in 1900, that organic halides react with metallic magnesium forming a highly reactive compound what even reacts with carbon dioxide from air forming carboxylic acids. The reaction between the halide (RX) and magnesium (Mg) gives the Gringard reagent (RMgX) what is an organometallic compound, still widely used by chemists in a lot reactions. Victor Grignard was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1912 for his work.

9:30 pm • 24 November 2014 • 307 notes • View comments