- electrophile
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e·lec·tro·phile (ĭ-lĕkʹtrə-fīl')
n.
A chemical compound or group that is attracted to electrons and tends to accept electrons.
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Atom or molecule that in a chemical reaction seeks an atom or molecule containing an electron pair available for bonding or the negative end of a polar molecule (see covalent bond; electric dipole).In the Lewis electron theory (see acid-base theory) advanced by the U.S. chemist Gilbert Lewis (1875–1946) in 1923, electrophiles are by definition Lewis acids. Examples include the hydronium ion (H3O+), boron trifluoride (BF3), and the halogens fluorine, chlorine, bromine, and iodine in molecular form. See also acid; nucleophile.* * *
in chemistry, an atom or a molecule that in chemical reaction seeks an atom or molecule containing an electron pair available for bonding. Electrophilic substances are Lewis acids (compounds that accept electron pairs), and many of them are Brønsted acids (compounds that donate protons). Examples of electrophiles are hydronium ion (H3O+, from Brønsted acids), boron trifluoride (BF3), aluminum chloride (AlCl3), and the halogen molecules fluorine (F2), chlorine (Cl2), bromine (Br2), and iodine (I2). Compare nucleophile.* * *
Universalium. 2010.