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Which is a better electrophile: aldehydes, ketones, or carboxylic acids?

Answer 1

The best electrophile here is the aldehyde.

Both aldehydes and ketones feature the electrophilic carbonyl group. The aldehyde #RC(=O)H# is much less sterically encumbered than the ketone, #RC(=O)R'#. On the other hand, a carboxyl group can be converted into a more potent electrophile by reaction with thionyl chloride to give the acid halide:

#RC(=O)OH + SO_2Cl rarr RC(=O)Cl + SO_2 + HCl#

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Answer 2

Ellie Adams

Ketones are typically better electrophiles than aldehydes and carboxylic acids because they have more electron-withdrawing groups attached to the carbonyl carbon, making them more prone to nucleophilic attack.

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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.