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Nucleophilic Atom

  • Page ID
    40755
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    A nucleophilic atom is an electron-rich atom in a molecule or ion. Use the following generalizations to identify the most common types of electron-rich atoms.

    1. An atom bearing one or more lone pairs but not a formal positive charge is electron-rich.

    eg. 1:

    nucleophilicatom1.png

    eg. 2:

    nucleophilicatom2.png

    2. A formally neutral atom bearing a partial negative charge is electron-rich.

    eg. 1:

    nucleophilicatom3.png

    eg. 2:

    nucleophilicatom4.png

    3. A carbon atom not bearing a formal or partial positive charge and multiple-bonded to another carbon atom is electron-rich.

    eg. 1:

    nucleophilicatom5.png

    eg. 2:

    nucleophilicatom6.png

    see also electrophilic atom, nucleophile, electrophile


    This page titled Nucleophilic Atom is shared under a All Rights Reserved (used with permission) license and was authored, remixed, and/or curated by Gamini Gunawardena via source content that was edited to the style and standards of the LibreTexts platform; a detailed edit history is available upon request.

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