Preparation of the Grignard Reagent
Rinse a 10ml graduated cylinder, a stir bar and a condenser tube with acetone.   Allow the acetone to fully evaporate.  Retrieve a 100ml round-bottomed flask from the drying oven and immdediately attach a drying tube to the top of the flask.  When cool enough to handle, clamp the flask to a ring stand in the hood, positioning the flask in a heating mantle set on a stirrer/hotplate. Set the reaction up on the side of the hood near to the faucet labeled for distillation.Retrieve a vial containing ~0.5g of pre-weighed magnesium turnings from the drying oven and add the turnings to the clamped flask, immediately returning the drying tube to the top of the flask.  Allow the flask to cool completely to room temperature.  Measure out 2.3ml of bromobenzene, using the 10ml graduated cylinder and add the bromobenzene to the 100ml rb flask.  Using the same graduated cylinder (no need to rinse or clean it), measure 5 ml of diethylether and add it to the rb flask.  If the flask is not sufficiently cool, the ether will evaporate immediately.  If it evaporates, add more ether.  Re-insert the drying tube and continue to stir the reaction.  Add the stir bar to the flask, replace the the drying tube and begin stirring the reaction. Wait for the reaction to start ( solution will become cloudy and yellowish).  

If the reaction does not begin immediately, carefully use a dry stirring rod to crush one of the magnesium turnings against the bottom of the flask. Be careful not to press too hard and crack the flask!  A cloudy solution is an indication that the reaction has begun.  Once the reaction has started, add an additional 10 ml of ether using a glass funnel.  Remove the drying tube and attach a reflux condenser to the flask.  Insert the drying tube on the top of the reflux condenser.  Connect the water hoses to the condenser and turn the water on.  Use a permanent marker to mark the level of the contents of the mixture. If the reaction becomes too vigorous, cool the flask for 2-3 minutes in an ice water bath. Once the reaction has become steady, warm the flask in the heating mantle on low heat for 10 minutes until the magnesium has completely dissolved/reacted and the solution has a brown or cloudy appearance. If the mixture has evaporated more than 0.5 cm below the starting line, add an additional 5ml of the ether.  If loss of ether continues, turn off the heat or immerse the flask into an ice bath to cool it down.  Allow the reaction mixture to cool to room temperature (if hot).   Set the flask aside, keeping it clamped securely to the ring stand.  This Grignard reagent will decompose rapidly, so the next step must be started at once. Preparation of Triphenylmethanol Remove a dry 150 ml Erlenmyer flask from the drying oven and allow it to cool to room temperature.  Place  3.7g of benzophenone into the beaker and add 10 ml of ether. Gently swirl the beaker to completely dissolve the benzophenone.  When the reaction mixture if fully cooled to room temperature, remove the condenser tube and drying tube from the reaction flask containing the Grignard reagent, insert a funnel and begin stirring the solution.  Add the benzophenone solution dropwise to the flask using a glass pipet (from the

When the reaction is cooled, remove the drying tube and condenser.  Continue stirring the mixture and slowly add 5 ml of distilled water dropwise using a glass pipet. This will hydrolyze the alkoxy/magnesium bromide salt to form the triphenylmethanol.  The water will also react with any unreacted Grignard reagent to form benzene. After the addition of the water is complete, 15ml of 5% HCl are added with continued stirring.  Continue stirring the reaction mixture until the reaction subsides. Transfer the reaction mixture to a 200ml beaker, adding additional ether (5-10ml) to the rb flask if necessary to remove any residual product.  Swirl the beaker and add more ether (5-10ml) to dissolve any solids.  Two layers should be apparent in the beaker and no solids should remain in the reaction flask. 

Transfer the entire reaction mixture (using a funnel) to a 125ml separatory funnel (Be sure the stopcock is in the closed position).  Two layers should appear.  The top layer is the ether layer, containing product.  The bottom layer is the aqueous layer containing the magnesium bromide salt by-product.  Label two 100ml beakers or Erlenmeyer flasks as “water layer” and “ether layer".  Drain the lower layer from the separatory funnel into the beaker or flask labeled “water layer”. Add 15 ml of aqueous 5% sodium bicarbonate to the ether layer in the separatory funnel.  Stopper the funnel and shake vigorously for 1-2 minutes.  Vent the funnel into the back of the hood.  Set the separatory funnel back onto the ring stand and allow the two layers to separate and remove the stopper.  Drain the bottom (water) layer into the beaker or flask labeled “water layer”.  Add 15ml m of saturated sodium chloride to the separatory funnel and repeat the process above, combining the lower layer again into the “water layer”. Pour the remaining ether layer into the dry 100 ml beaker labeled "ether layer". Add ~100mg (tip of a spatula) of magnesium sulfate drying agent to the beaker or flask labeled “ether layer”.   Swirl the flask, then allow the drying agent to settle to the bottom.  Decant or filter off the magnesiun sulfate and transfer the solution into a pre-weighed, clean, very dry 125 ml Erlenmeyer flask. Clamp the flask containing the ether layer to a ring stand and place it in a warm water bath to remove the ether.   Store your product in the open Erlenmyer flask to allow it to finish drying over the week.