Question

Arrange the following nucleophiles in the order of their nucleophilic strength.

• A. $O{H}^{-}>C{H}_{3}CO{O}^{-}>OC{H}_3^{-}>C_6{H}_5{O}^{-}$
• B. $C{H}_{3}CO{O}^{-}<C_6{H}_5{O}^{-}<OC{H}_3^{-}<O{H}^{-}$
• C. $C_6{H}_5{O}^{-}<C{H}_{3}CO{O}^{-}<C{H}_3{O}^{-}<O{H}^{-}$
• D. $C{H}_{3}CO{O}^{-}<C_6{H}_5{O}^{-}<O{H}^{-}<C{H}_3{O}^{-}$

Answer 1

Answer: (A)

$O{H}^{-}>C{H}_{3}CO{O}^{-}>OC{H}_3^{-}>C_6{H}_5{O}^{-}$

A nucleophile is a chemical species that donates an electron pair to an electrophile to form a chemical bond in relation to a reaction. All molecules or ions with a free pair of electrons or at least one pi bond can act as nucleophiles. Because nucleophiles donate electrons, they are by definition Lewis bases.
The relative strengths of nucleophiles can be correlated with: A negatively charged nucleophile is always more reactive than its conjugate acid. Thus

$HOX$ is a better nucleophile than $HX2O$ and $ROX$ is better than R OH.
$O{H}^{-}>C{H}_{3}CO{O}^{-}>OC{H}_3^{-}>C_6{H}_5{O}^{-}$