Question

What are ambident nucleophiles ? Explain with an example.

Answer 1

The nucleophiles which has two different electron donor atoms and can attack through two different sites are called ambident nucleophiles.

For example : Cyanide ion $\left(C{N}^{-}\right)$ has two resonating structures :

$:C\equiv N:\leftrightarrow :C=\stackrel{..}{N}:$
So, it can attack through carbon to form cyanides and through N to form isocyanides or carbylamines.