liz askew Jun 30, 2011:

Oh, look here though:http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:TLEWPq7...


Here the first product is a ketone in which the OR' group of the ester has been replaced by the alkyl group of the Grignard reagent. This ketone is immediately attacked by another molecule of the Grignard reagent. After neutralization with aqueous acid the product is an alcohol in which the two identical groups attached to the alcohol carbon are from the Grignard reagent. If the R group of the ester is a carbon group this will be a tertiary alcohol.
In both these cases, we've combined a the general pattern for carboxylic acid derivatives, substitution of the nucleophile in place of the leaving group, with a pattern which applies to aldehydes and ketones, to arrive at "double" reaction. The first part is substitution and the second part is addition. We can't stop the reaction halfway, because aldehydes and ketones are more reactive than esters, so the aldehydes and ketones gobble up the reagent faster than the esters.

liz askew Jun 30, 2011:

@Michael, FWIW, I think you are wise to pose this question, particularly as I am unable to find any other Spanish reference with "doble reacción de Grignard"....all I did find was "doble reacción SN2"..so wait for a pharmaceutical expert.

Richard Hill Jun 30, 2011:

Gotta try and be a jack-of-all-“fields” I don’t claim that my answer comes from my existing knowledge. We often have to translate on topics that aren’t our most knowledgeable areas but aided with the right tools, experience, common sense and help of course, we almost invariably manage to make sense of the topic and do a good job, do we not? If I were you I’d be confident to use the term suggested by Lorena and I. My confidence level went up with this answer after the first related term I’d given an answer to as it seems pretty clear it’s the right term. Anyway, let’s hope an expert in the field can confirm or refute it.

Michael Powers (PhD) (asker) Jun 30, 2011:

appreciative of colleagues' knowledge Since I do not regularly work in the area of chemistry or pharmaceuticals, I am appreciative of those with greater experience than me and would rather ask too much than not enough to make sure the translation is accurate.

Thanks for all your participation.

lorenab23 Jun 30, 2011:

Michael It is my understanding that you have to consider the whole thing: doble reacción de Grignard known as the double Grignard reaction...
I don't dare post it as an answer because I am not 100% sure but maybe it can point you in the right direction :-)
If we concentrate and send positive energy maybe M.C. Filgueira will appear soon to save the day!