Question

Is sulfuric acid a nucleophile?

Answer 1

1. Nucleophile: If something tends to provide electron pairs to electrophiles in order to establish chemical bonds with them, it is termed to be a nucleophile.
2. ${\mathbf{OH}}^{\mathbf{-}}\mathbf{,}\mathbf{}{\mathbf{CN}}^{\mathbf{-}}\mathbf{,}\mathbf{}{\mathbf{NH}}_{\mathbf{3}}\mathbf{,}\mathbf{}{\mathbf{H}}_{\mathbf{2}}\mathbf{O}$ are some examples of the nucleophile.
3. Sulfuric Acid: The formula of sulfuric acid is ${\mathbf{H}}_{\mathbf{2}}{\mathbf{SO}}_{\mathbf{4}}$.
4. In sulfuric acid, oxygen has loan pair of the electron to donate so it acts as a nucleophile.
5. Sulfuric acid a has conjugate base $\mathbf{\left(}{\mathbf{SO}}_{\mathbf{4}}^{\mathbf{2}\mathbf{-}}\mathbf{\right)}$ which is a good nucleophile as it is electron-rich species.
6. We can say that a conjugate base is always a better nucleophile as compared to a molecule.

Hence, sulfuric acid acts as a nucleophile.