noun
- Plural of electrophile; molecules or ions that are attracted to regions of high electron density and accept electron pairs in chemical reactions.
Usage: chemistry; technical
Examples
- Electrophiles are commonly used in organic synthesis to form new carbon-carbon bonds.
- Carbocations are strong electrophiles that readily attack electron-rich sites.
- In electrophilic aromatic substitution, electrophiles attack the π-electron system of benzene.
- The reactivity of electrophiles depends on their ability to accept electron pairs.
- Alkyl halides can act as electrophiles in nucleophilic substitution reactions.
- Chemists design electrophiles to selectively target specific molecular regions.