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A hydroxide ion acting as a nucleophile in an S N 2 reaction, converting a haloalkane into an alcohol. In chemistry, a nucleophile is a chemical species that forms bonds by donating an electron pair. All molecules and ions with a free pair of electrons or at least one pi bond can act as nucleophiles. Because nucleophiles donate electrons, they ...
The methoxide anion, for example, is both a strong base and nucleophile because it is a methyl nucleophile, and is thus very much unhindered. tert -Butoxide , on the other hand, is a strong base, but a poor nucleophile, because of its three methyl groups hindering its approach to the carbon.
The nucleophile may be electrically neutral or negatively charged, whereas the substrate is typically neutral or positively charged. An example of nucleophilic substitution is the hydrolysis of an alkyl bromide , R-Br under basic conditions, where the attacking nucleophile is hydroxyl ( OH − ) and the leaving group is bromide ( Br − ).
If the nucleophile is a neutral molecule (i.e. a solvent) a third step is required to complete the reaction. When the solvent is water, the intermediate is an oxonium ion. This reaction step is fast. Deprotonation: Removal of a proton on the protonated nucleophile by water acting as a base forming the alcohol and a hydronium ion. This reaction ...
In organic synthesis, cyanide, which is classified as a strong nucleophile, is used to prepare nitriles, which occur widely in many chemicals, including pharmaceuticals. Illustrative is the synthesis of benzyl cyanide by the reaction of benzyl chloride and sodium cyanide. [8]
An application of HSAB theory is the so-called Kornblum's rule (after Nathan Kornblum) which states that in reactions with ambident nucleophiles (nucleophiles that can attack from two or more places), the more electronegative atom reacts when the reaction mechanism is S N 1 and the less electronegative one in a S N 2 reaction.
The terms nucleophile and electrophile are sometimes interchangeable with Lewis base and Lewis acid, respectively. These terms, especially their abstract noun forms nucleophilicity and electrophilicity , emphasize the kinetic aspect of reactivity, while the Lewis basicity and Lewis acidity emphasize the thermodynamic aspect of Lewis adduct ...
Here, a strong Lewis acid is required to generate either a carbocation from an alkyl halide in the Friedel-Crafts alkylation reaction or an acylium ion from an acyl halide. In the vast majority of cases, reactions that involve leaving group activation generate a cation in a separate step, before either nucleophilic attack or elimination.