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In chemistry, an electrophile is a chemical species that forms bonds with nucleophiles by accepting an electron pair. [1] Because electrophiles accept electrons, they are Lewis acids . [ 2 ] Most electrophiles are positively charged , have an atom that carries a partial positive charge, or have an atom that does not have an octet of electrons.
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. Nucleophile strength is also affected by charge and electronegativity : nucleophilicity increases with increasing negative charge and decreasing electronegativity.
In the situation where other variables are held constant (nature of the alkyl electrophile, solvent, etc.), a change in nucleophile can lead to a change in the order of reactivity for leaving groups. In the case below, tosylate is the best leaving group when ethoxide is the nucleophile, but iodide and even bromide become better leaving groups ...
The most common Lewis bases are anions. The strength of Lewis basicity correlates with the pK a of the parent acid: acids with high pK a 's give good Lewis bases. As usual, a weaker acid has a stronger conjugate base. Examples of Lewis bases based on the general definition of electron pair donor include:
In chemistry, a nucleophilic substitution (S N) is a class of chemical reactions in which an electron-rich chemical species (known as a nucleophile) replaces a functional group within another electron-deficient molecule (known as the electrophile). The molecule that contains the electrophile and the leaving functional group is called the ...
A nitrogen bound to both a good electrofuge and a good nucleofuge is known as a nitrenoid (for its resemblance to a nitrene). [2] Nitrenes lack a full octet of electrons are thus highly electrophilic; nitrenoids exhibit analogous behavior and are often good substrates for electrophilic amination reactions.
In order for the S N 2 reaction to take place there must be a good leaving group which is strongly electronegative, commonly a halide. [ 4 ] In the Williamson ether reaction there is an alkoxide ion (RO − ) which acts as the nucleophile, attacking the electrophilic carbon with the leaving group, which in most cases is an alkyl tosylate or an ...
In acid-catalyzed Fischer esterification, the proton binds to oxygens and functions as a Lewis acid to activate the ester carbonyl (top row) as an electrophile, and converts the hydroxyl into the good leaving group water (bottom left). Both lower the kinetic barrier and speed up the attainment of chemical equilibrium.