The preparation of organolanthanoid species from diorganomagnesium and lanthanoid salt is discussed. Treatment of cerium trichloride or ytterbium trichloride with diorganomagnesium gave the corresponding organolanthanoid species much more efficiently than treatment of the salt with organomagnesiumhalide.
In the presence of anhydrous cerium(III) chloride, Grignardreagents react with Ketones to afford addition products in high yields, even though the substrates are susceptible to abnormal reactions with Grignardreagents alone.