Answer to Question #214847 in Organic Chemistry for Almas

Question

Nucleophile full detail

Answer 1

A nucleophile is a reactant that provides a pair of electrons to form a new covalent bond. 

Sound familiar? It should! This is the exact definition of a Lewis base.

In other words, nucleophiles are Lewis bases.

When the nucleophile donates a pair of electrons to a proton (H⁺) it’s called a Bronsted base, or simply, “base”.

Here are some examples of Lewis bases you’re probably familiar with.

As you can see, nucleophiles all have pairs of electrons to donate, and tend to be rich in electrons.