Chemistry

(/chemistry/) >  Organic

Chemistry
(/jee/organic-
chemistry/) >  Difference
Between
Electrophile And
Nucleophile
(/chemistry/difference-
between-
electrophile-and-
nucleophile/)

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Electrophile
and
Nucleophile

Electrophile
and
nucleophile
are the
chemical
species that
donate or
accept
electrons to
form a new
chemical
bond. A
nucleophile
is a chemical
species
which, in
relation to a
response,
gives an
electron pair
to form a
chemical
bond. Any
molecule,
ion or atom
that is in
some
manner
de cient in
electron can
act as an
electrophile.
A
(/byjus-classes-book-a-free-60-minutes-class/registration/?utm_campaign=mobile-
BOOK
nucleophile xed-button-book-class&utm_source=we
Free Class
is usually
 charged
negatively or
neutral with
a lone
couple of
donable
electrons.
H2O, -OMe or
-OtBu are
some
examples.
Overall, the
electron-rich
is a
nucleophile. 
Electrophiles
are generally
charged
positively or
are neutral
species with
empty
orbitals
attracted to
a centre
wealthy in
electrons.
The
chemical
reactions
(https://byju
s.com/chem
istry/chemic
al-
reactions/)
happening
between
electron
donors and
acceptors
are
described by
concepts
like
electrophile
and
nucleophile.
These are
the most
important
concepts in
organic
chemistry.
They have
replaced
cationoid
(/byjus-classes-book-a-free-60-minutes-class/registration/?utm_campaign=mobile- xed-button-book-class&utm_source=we
BOOK
and
Free Classanionoid

terms and in
 were
introduced in
the year
1933.

What is
Electrophi
le?
Positively
loaded or
neutral
species are
called
electrophiles
that are
de cient in
electrons
and can
accept a
couple of
electrons.
These are
also called
species that
love electron
(philic).
The term
electrophile
can be split
into “electro”
derived from
electron and
“phile” which
means
loving.
They are
electron
de cient and
hence
electrons
loving.
They are
positively
charged or
neutrally
charged.
They attract
electrons.
Movement
of electrons
depends on
the density.
They move
from high-
density area
(/byjus-classes-book-a-free-60-minutes-class/registration/?utm_campaign=mobile- xed-button-book-class&utm_source=we
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Free Class to low

density area.
 They
undergo
electrophilic
addition and
electrophilic
substitution
(https://byju
s.com/chem
istry/electro
philic-
substitution/
) reactions.
An
electrophile
is also called
as Lewis
acid.

What is
Nucleophi
le?
A
nucleophile
is a reagent
comprising
an
unparalleled
or lone
electron pair
atom. As a
nucleophile
is wealthy in
electron, it
looks for
de cient
electron
locations, i.e.
nucleus
means
loving
nucleus.
Nucleophiles
act as Lewis
bases,
according to
Lewis ‘
notion of
acids and
bases.
The term
nucleophile
can be split
into “nucleo”
derived from
the nucleus
BOOK and “phile”
(/byjus-classes-book-a-free-60-minutes-class/registration/?utm_campaign=mobile- xed-button-book-class&utm_source=we
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which
 means
loving.
They are
electron rich
and hence
nucleus
loving. They
are
negatively
charged or
neutrally
charged.
They donate electrons.
Movement
of electrons
depends on
the density.
They move
from low-
density area
to high-
density area.
They
undergo
nucleophilic
addition and
nucleophilic
substitution
reactions.
A
nucleophile
is also called
as Lewis
base.
For example,
as nitrogen
is less
electronegati
ve than
oxygen,
ammonia is
a stronger
nucleophile
(https://byju
s.com/chem
istry/nucleo
phile/) than
water. What
this means
is the more
loosely
containing
the nitrogen-
bound lone
pair of
(/byjus-classes-book-a-free-60-minutes-class/registration/?utm_campaign=mobile- xed-button-book-class&utm_source=we
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ammonia
Free Class

than the
 oxygen-
bound
solitary
water pairs.
To make you
understand
how
electrophile
and
nucleophile
are different
from each
other, here
are some
major
differences
between
atom and
ion:

Differenc
e between
Electrophi
le and
Nucleophi
le
The
difference
between
Electrophile
and
Nucleophile
is listed
below.

ELECTROPHILE NUCLEOPHILE

Also called Also called

as Lewis as Lewis
acid base
(https://byjus.com/chemistry/lewis-
acids-and-
bases/)

They are They are

positively negatively
charged / charged /
neutral neutral

They They
undergo undergo
electrophilic nucleophilic
addition and addition and
electrophilic nucleophilic
substitution substitution
reactions reactions
(/byjus-classes-book-a-free-60-minutes-class/registration/?utm_campaign=mobile- xed-button-book-class&utm_source=we
BOOK
Free Electron-
Class Electron-rich
de cient
 It accepts a It donates a
pair of an pair of an
electron to electron to
form a form a
covalent covalent
bond bond

All All
carbocations carbanions

Example: Example:
Hydronium Chloride Ion
Ion

These were
some
important
difference
between
nucleophile
and
electrophile.
A ligand may
be
immediately
attacked by
a
nucleophile
or an
electrophile
when
activated by
proximity to
metal. Each
of these
assaults can
result in a
response to
an addition
or
abstraction.
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differences
between
other topics
in chemistry
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knowledge on
difference
between
electrophile
and
nucleophile!

Put your
understanding
of this
concept to
test by
answering a
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Quiz’ to begin!

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