In contradiction to the hypothesized improvement of the selectivity by reducing the degree of backmixing, as indicated by non-reactive RTD measurements, a significant improvement of the selectivity for both fine and coarse magnesium turnings could not be proven. This is explained by the fact that for each positive deflection of amplitude, the flow velocity across the magnesium bed is briefly increased, although the total volume of fluid conveyed remains unchanged. The higher the amplitude at a constant frequency, the higher the Re0 and also the resulting flow velocity. The flow rate in a continuous synthesis corresponds to the feed rate in a batch synthesis and there, too, the faster addition of the halide reactant leads to an increased formation of the Wurtz coupling product. The formation of channels and insufficient compaction of the magnesium bed during synthesis lead to an inhomogeneous bed which enhances irregular flow conditions and consequently thwart the efforts to minimize axial dispersion by means of a superimposed oscillatory flow as it is also reflected in the significantly lower Bodenstein numbers of the reactive measurements.