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How do polar solvents increase nucleophilicity?

Answer 1

See explanation.

Polar solvents could be protic (hydrogen bonding) or aprotic (no hydrogen bonding).

Polar solvents either decrease the nucleophilicity or not affect it, but they generally do not increase nucleophilicity.

Polar protic solvents solvate the nucleophile through hydrogen bonding and shield it from reaction, which will result in weakening its nucleophilicity.

Polar aprotic solvents do not solvate the nucleophile and therefore, the nucleophile it is said to be naked , which will not shield it from the reaction, and therefore, not affecting its nucleophilicity.

Images source: Organic Chemistry-Janice Gorzynski Smith 3rd Ed

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Answer 2
Sarah Angotti
Polar solvents stabilize ions formed during the reaction, decreasing their reactivity as nucleophiles. This effect is known as solvation. However, for non-polar solvents, the nucleophile remains in its most reactive state, leading to higher nucleophilicity compared to polar solvents.
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Answer from HIX Tutor

When evaluating a one-sided limit, you need to be careful when a quantity is approaching zero since its sign is different depending on which way it is approaching zero from. Let us look at some examples.

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