Define ambidient nucleophiles with an example.

A nucleophile that has two nucleophilic centers is ambident nucleophile.

Ambident Nucleophiles are molecules or ions that can attack an electrophile (usually a carbon atom) in two different ways, using two different sites, due to the presence of multiple reactive atoms or groups. These nucleophiles have more than one atom that can donate electrons to form a bond with the electrophile.

Example:

Cyanide ion (CN⁻) is an ambident nucleophile because it can attack an electrophilic carbon atom in two different ways:

• The carbon (C) atom can act as the nucleophile.
• The nitrogen (N) atom can also act as the nucleophile.

So, the cyanide ion can attack a carbon atom from either side, making it ambident.