6.4 Nucleophiles, Electrophiles, and Intermediates | Organic Chemistry

Chad introduces nucleophiles and electrophiles in the context of nucleophilic attack, one of the common mechanistic steps of organic reactions. He explains the key characteristic of a nucleophile (a lone pair of electrons) and explains how to distinguish between strong and weak nucleophiles. Chad then covers the 3 most common electrophiles: alkyl halides, carbocations, and carbonyl groups and explains what makes them reactive as electrophiles. Chad concludes the lesson by covering 3 types of intermediates in organic reactions: carbocations, carbon radicals, and carbanions. He explains the trend in stability for each:
The more substituted the carbocation, the more stable.
The more substituted the carbon radical, the more stable.
The less substituted the carbanion, the more stable.
Chad also describes the concept of hyperconjugation which explains why more substituted carbocations and radicals are more stable.

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00:00 Lesson Introduction
00:45 Defining Nucleophiles and Electrophiles
02:59 Key Characteristics of Nucleophiles
04:18 The 3 Most Common Types of Electrophiles
07:05 Carbocation Stability and Hyperconjugation
13:10 Carbon Radical Stability
14:13 Carbanion Stability

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