Ambident

Ambident (Latin for " toothed on both sides" ) describes molecules in chemistry that can react nucleophilically at two different points and thereby enter into a coordinative bond with an electrophilic partner (see also Kornblum's rule ).

The term is often used in complex chemistry . In contrast to a chelate ligand , which also has several coordination sites , an ambident ligand can only bind to an electrophilic central particle via one coordination site at a time. Ambident anions are also known as ambident nucleophiles.

Examples of ambident ligands:

• Nitrite ion NO ₂ ^- (coordination via nitrogen or oxygen possible)
• Cyanide ion CN ^- (coordination via nitrogen or carbon possible)
• Thiocyanate ion SCN ^- (coordination via nitrogen or sulfur possible)
• Enolate ion (coordination via carbon or oxygen possible)

Individual evidence

1. ^ Siegfried Hauptmann : Reaction and Mechanism in Organic Chemistry , BG Teubner, Stuttgart, 1991, p. 166, ISBN 3-519-03515-4 .