Electrophile vs. Nucleophile (an overview)
- Electrophile: (literally electron lovers), Electron deficient, affinity towards electron, Lewis acid
- -Most of them are positively charged, have an atom that carries a partial positive charged or an atom with an incomplete octet.-participates in a chemical reaction by accepting an electron pair in order to bond to a nucleophile
- -They may be:
- 1.Cations like H+, NO+
- 2.Polarized neutral molecules like HCl, alkyl halides, acyl halides and carbonyl compounds
- 3.Polarizable neutral molecules like Cl2, Br2
- 4.Oxidizing agents like organic per acids
- 5.Chemical species that do not satisfy the octet rule like carbenes and radicals
- Some Lewis acids like BH3
- Nucleophile: (literally nucleus lovers), Electron rich, affinity towards nuclei, Lewis bases
- -donates an electron pair to an electrophile to form a chemical bond in a reaction.
- -All molecules or ions with a free pair of electrons or at least one pi bond can act as a nucleophile
- -They may be:
- 1. ions such as Cl- or molecule like NH3
- 2. Carbon nucleophiles: alkyl metal halides (as in Grignard reaction and anion of a terminal alkyne) and Enols (as in condensation reactions like in aldol condensation).
- 3. Oxygen nucleophiles: water (H2O), hydroxide anion, alcohols, alkoxide anions, hydrogen peroxide, and carboxylate anions.
- 4. Sulphur nucleophiles: Hydrogen sulphide and its salts like thiols.
- 5. Nitrogen nucleophiles: ammonia, amines and nitrites.
0 comments:
Confused? Feel Free To Ask
Your feedback is always appreciated. We will try to reply to your queries as soon as time allows.