Question

Is free radical electrophilic?

Answer 1

Electrophile is generally made up from two words called electro and phile where electro means electron and phile means loving i.e. those species that are electron loving in nature. Water generally contains one oxygen and two hydrogen atoms. It is inorganic, transparent, tasteless and colorless.

Complete step-by-step answer: Electrophiles are generally positive in nature or can be neutral; these are generally electron deficient in electrons and can easily accept electrons and movement of electrons depends upon the density of electrons. They can move from high density areas to low density areas. Electrophile can also be termed as Lewis acid.
Free radicals are those molecules which contain an unpaired electron in their atomic orbital and these can exist independently. These are very rare and unique in nature and present only under special and some limited conditions molecular oxygen is the example of typical free radical. These are paramagnetic species due to the availability of an unpaired electron in their orbital. These are highly reactive in nature but very unstable. They can donate or accept an electron from other molecules so they can behave as oxidant and reductant as well.
In case of electrophile they accept the electrons so we can say that free radical can also be kept in the category of electrophiles.

Note: Electrophile can undergo electrophilic addition and electrophilic substitution reactions. Nucleophiles are those substances which are electron rich in nature and have the ability to donate electrons and these are nucleus loving species.