Why do we add #"HCl"# in a Grignard reaction workup?

1 Answer
Nov 22, 2015

Because many Grignard reactions yield an alkoxide, which can be protonated with dilute acid (protonating the water, which then transfers its proton to the alkoxide) to form an unreactive alcohol, while the remaining water deactivates the Grignard reagent.

Examples: