nucleophile

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noun

A compound or functional group that is attractive to centres of positive charge, and donates electrons, especially donating an electron pair to an electrophile to form a bond.

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Meanings

nounnucleophile (plural nucleophiles)

plural nucleophiles

  1. chemistryA compound or functional group that is attractive to centres of positive charge, and donates electrons, especially donating an electron pair to an electrophile to form a bond.

Origin

From nucleo- + -phile.

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Czech nukleofil
  • nukleofilcompound or functional group attractive to centres of positive charge
German Nukleophil
  • Nukleophilcompound or functional group attractive to centres of positive charge
Japanese 求核剤
  • 求核剤 (kyūkakuzai)compound or functional group attractive to centres of positive charge
Persian هستهدوست
  • هستهدوست (haste-dust)compound or functional group attractive to centres of positive charge
Russian нуклеофил
  • нуклеофил (nukleofil)compound or functional group attractive to centres of positive charge
Cite this entry
APA

nucleophile. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/nucleophile

MLA

“nucleophile.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/nucleophile. Accessed November 2, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “nucleophile,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/nucleophile.

Source: nucleophile on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.