Question

Nucleophiles are ----- while electrophiles are -------
(A) Lewis bases, Lewis acids.
(B) Lewis acids, Lewis bases.
(C) Bronsted acids, Bronsted bases.
(D) Lewis acids, Bronsted bases.

Answer 1

Hint: Any molecules or atom which lacks some electrons to fulfil its octet, which may or may not possess positive charge is known as electrophile whereas one who has an abundant amount of electrons and may or may not possess negative charge are known as a nucleophile.

Complete step by step answer:
-Nucleophiles are Lewis bases and electrophiles are Lewis acids because of their nature.
-Those compounds which are always ready to donate the required number of electrons are known as Lewis bases.
-Those compounds which are ready to accept a required pair of electrons from any donor are known as Lewis acids.
-We know that the nucleophiles have an extra pair of electrons to donate, that's why nucleophiles are regarded as the Lewis base.
-We know that the electrophiles are always ready to accept a pair of electrons because of the presence of a vacant orbital, that's why electrophiles are regarded as the Lewis acid.
For example, water is a Bronsted acid because it liberates protons and donates to the acceptor and Bicarbonate ion is a Bronsted base because it is responsible for accepting the protons from the donor.

Note: We should remember that Bronsted base is the base which has a vacant orbital to accept the protons whereas Bronsted acid is those which have an ability to donate the protons to an acceptor.