In chemistry, an electrofuge is a leaving group that does not retain the lone pair of electrons from its previous bond with another species (in contrast to a nucleofuge, which does). It can result from the heterolytic breaking of covalent bonds. After this reaction an electrofuge may possess either a positive or a neutral charge; this is governed by the nature of the specific reaction.

An example would be the loss of H⁺ from a molecule of benzene during nitration.

The word 'electrofuge' is frequently found in older literature, but its use in contemporary organic chemistry is now uncommon.

See also

• Nucleofuge  — counterpart retaining electrons
• Nucleophile and electrophile  — analogous entering groups
• Reductive elimination  — similar process with metal complexes, but with two single-electron electrofuges
• Carbenium ion  — common non-metal electrofuges, with assessment of relative stability
• Fragmentation (mass spectrometry)  — often an electrofugal process

References

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