Carbon Dioxide → Magnesium ethyl carbonate

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Reaction Steps

Generally, magnesium hydrocarbyl carbonate is prepared by reacting carbon dioxide with a magnesium alcoholate. For example, magnesium hydrocarbyl carbonate is formed by suspending magnesium ethoxide in ethanol and adding carbon dioxide until the magnesium ethoxide dissolves forming magnesium ethyl carbonate. If, however, the magnesium ethoxide were suspended in 2-ethylhexanol, magnesium 2-ethylhexyl carbonate, magnesium ethyl carbonate and magnesium ethyl/2-ethylhexyl carbonate may be formed. If the magnesium ethoxide is suspended in a liquid hydrocarbon or halohydrocarbon which is free of alcohol, the addition of carbon dioxide results in the breaking apart of the magnesium ethoxide particles and the magnesium hydrocarbyl carbonate reaction product does not dissolve. The reaction of a magnesium alcoholate with carbon dioxide can be represented as:

Provenance & Evidence