What's the difference between an electrophile and a nucleophile?

It's really useful to know that 'phile' means love.Electrophiles 'love' negative charge - this means they are attracted to regions of negative charge. And as such they tend to be positively charged.Similarily, nucleophiles 'love' positive charge, so they tend to be negatively charged and will seek out postively charged regions.

HP
Answered by Henry P. Chemistry tutor

7187 Views

See similar Chemistry A Level tutors

Related Chemistry A Level answers

All answers ▸

What is meant by the term chiral?


What is an acid-base pair?


Explain why the ionisation energies tend to increase across a period


What is a stereoisomer?


We're here to help

contact us iconContact ustelephone icon+44 (0) 203 773 6020
Facebook logoInstagram logoLinkedIn logo

MyTutor is part of the IXL family of brands:

© 2026 by IXL Learning