274 REPORTS ON THE STATE OF SCIENCE. 
Acetic esters, on the other hand, yield tertiary alcohols ; for example, 
irimethylcarbinol is obtained in an 82 per cent. yield from methy] acetate : 
OMgI 
CH,MgI + CH, . COOCH, = CH,. C fou, 
OOH, 
OMg1 OMglI 
OCH, 
CH,. oer, + CH,Mg1=CH,. eter, + Me 
OOH, OH, 
OMet oH 
CH,. oor +H,0=CH,. oto + MglOH 
OH, OH, 
Tertiary alcohols may also be obtained from acid chlorides or acid 
anhydrides, the action of the magnesium allyl halide again being assumed 
to take place in two phases.!_ Acetyl chloride, for instance, is readily con- 
verted into trimethylcarbinol : 
OMglI 
CH,MgI + CH,.COC1=CH,. oer, 
Cl 
OMgl OMgI 
CHy. of cr, + CH,MgI=CH;. oem, + MgICl 
Cl CH, 
OMgl OH 
CH,.CZCH, +H,O=CH;. ctou, + MglOH 
CH, CH, 
It was subsequently shown that aromatic halogen compounds behave 
like alkyl halides in forming magnesium organic compounds.” Thus 
phenyl bromide forms the compound C;H;MgBr, which, by its inter- 
action with methyl benzoate, gives a theoretical yield of triphenylearbinol. 
When magnesium phenyl bromide, however, acts on acetyl chloride, 
diphenylethylene, (Cj;H;),C :CH., is obtained in place of the alcohol 
(C,H;).C(OH) . CH3. 
Tt was at once appreciated by students of organic chemistry that 
science was indebted to the French investigator for the discovery of a 
reagent of more than ordinary importance for synthetic purposes. As is 
well known, the classical work of E. Frankland and Duppa on zine alkyl 
compounds opened up a highly fruitful field of research, to which important 
contributions were made by Wagner, Butlerow, and Saytzew. Zine alkyl 
compounds are, however, difficult to manipulate on account of their 
spontaneous inflammability, and to this factor the comparatively limited 
1 Wissier and Grignard, Compt. rend., 1901, 182, 683. 
2 Thid., 1901, 1382, 1182. 
