Question

Which reactant in each of the following pairs is more nucleophilic? Explain.

(e) I^- or Cl^-

Short answer

I^-

Step-by-step solution

Nucleophile

Essentially, nucleophiles are negatively charged particles or species with lone electrons available for bonding.

Rules to identify more nucleophilic species

1. Nucleophile attacking the same atom then nucleophilicity is same as basicity that more basic species is more nucleophilic in nature.
2. Nucleophilicity increases in going down in a group of the periodic tables.
3. A negatively charged nucleophile is more nucleophilic than a neutral nucleophile due to a negative charge.

More nucleophiles among I-  or Cl-

On the basis of:

1. Rule2: Nucleophilicity increases in going down in a group of the periodic table.

\({I^ - }\;and\;C{l^ - }\) belong to group 17 of the periodic table and \({I^ - }\) is above \(C{l^ - }\) in the group.

I^-is more nucleophilic thanCl^-