Why is CO_2 a lewis acid?

1 Answer
anor277
Jul 13, 2018

Is it not an electron pair acceptor....?

Explanation:

Still the best way of making a C-C bond is to pour a Grignard reagent onto dry ice as shown...

R-MgX + CO_2(s) stackrel("dry ether")rarr RCO_2^(-) + MgX_2(s)darr

The carboxylate ion can be reprotonated by water work-up to give RCO_2H... And here carbon dioxide has accepted the formal pair of electrons conceived to be localized on the Grignard reagent...

Related questions
See all questions in Lewis Acids and Bases
Impact of this question
5390 views around the world
You can reuse this answer
Creative Commons License