Question

What makes good electrophile?

Answer 1

Electrophile:

• 'Electro' means electrons and 'phile' means loving.
• Any species that is electron deficient could be an electrophile.
• They are basically positively charged electron-deficient species with empty orbitals.
• Electrophiles are the electron-deficient species that can be positively charged or could be neutral.

Example:

Positively charged electrophile:

${\mathrm{H}}^{+},{\mathrm{SO}}_3{\mathrm{H}}^{+},{\mathrm{NO}}^{+}$ etc.

Neutral electrophile:

$>*\mathrm{C}=\mathrm{O},\mathrm{R}*\mathrm{COCl},\mathrm{R}-*\mathrm{Mg}-\mathrm{X},\mathrm{etc}.$

Condition for a good nucleophile:

• It must first have an electrophilic center or atom.
• Second, the electrophilic atom must be capable of supporting a new sigma bond.
• It should have vacant orbitals.