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Which is stronger as a nucleophile: #"CH"_3"S"^-# or #"HS"^-#?

Answer 1

Paisley Boney

#"CH"_3"S"^-# is a better nucleophile.

The methyl group's inductive effects result in a higher electron density at the sulfur.

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Answer 2

Maya Allen

"HS"^- is stronger as a nucleophile compared to "CH"_3"S"^- due to sulfur's higher electronegativity and smaller size, which results in a more localized negative charge and greater nucleophilic reactivity.

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Answer 3

Zoe Alexander

"HS"^- is stronger as a nucleophile compared to "CH"_3"S"^- due to the higher polarizability of sulfur in the thiolate ion ("HS"^-) compared to sulfur in the methyl thiolate ion ("CH"_3"S"^-).

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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.