Photo credit: Generalstabens Litografiska Anstalt Stockholm, 1912 — Wikimedia Commons · Public domain
Victor Grignard
1871–1935 · France · Born in the 1800s
Nobel Chemistry 1912
French chemist who created the organomagnesium compounds now called Grignard reagents, a cornerstone of carbon–carbon bond formation.
Nobel Prize work
He discovered that alkyl halides react with magnesium in ether to give organomagnesium reagents (RMgX), which add to carbonyl compounds to build new C–C bonds. The method gave chemists a general, controllable route to alcohols, acids and hydrocarbons, transforming organic synthesis.