CarbocationIntermediat
A carbocation intermediate is a positively charged carbon-centered species that can form temporarily during many organic reaction mechanisms. It arises when a bond to carbon breaks heterolytically or when a proton or leaving group induces ionization, generating a cationic center that can be attacked by a nucleophile or undergo rearrangement or elimination.
Stability of carbocations depends on substitution, resonance, and hyperconjugation. Tertiary carbocations are generally more stable than
Carbocation intermediates are typically short-lived and are trapped by nucleophiles, or they may eliminate to form
Experimentally, carbocation intermediates are inferred from rearranged products, trapping experiments, or, in some cases, spectroscopic observations