Question

Is Chlorine an Electrophile?

Answer 1

We know that the electrophiles are those reactants that are either positively charged or neutral with no lone pair of electrons. These positively charged or electron deficient chemical species can accept electron pairs from other molecules or atoms. Electrophiles as we know are electron-loving. This can be referred to in other words electron-deficient species and thus can accept an electron pair from electron-rich species.

Complete answer:
A partial positive charge is gained by the carbon and the chlorine gains a partial negative charge. The electrophile will be the positively charged carbon in this situation. As you can find in halide reactions within organic chemistry, chlorine is also a nucleophile. In order to attack a double bond in alkene, Halogens can act as electrophiles. A region of electron density represents a double bond and thus functions as a nucleophile.
A nucleophile is that chemical species that has negative charge or that has lone pairs of electrons. Lone pair of electrons is those electrons that do not get used in the bond. They remain unused in the molecule. As a result, this type of chemical species can get attracted to the positive area of another compound or molecule. This attraction results in chemical reactions and bonds. Chlorine has three lone pairs of electrons in just its atomic form. So it can donate them to other electron-deficient atoms or molecules by getting attached to them.

Note:
Remember that the molecules which are referred to as nucleophiles can be also referred to as bases as the difference is just on the attacking sites the attack of the nucleophile at the carbon atom and the base attack at the hydrogen atom.