The term should be used with great care since several incompatible meanings are currently
in use. It is not acceptable as the root for systematic nomenclature for
carbocations.
-
In most of the existing literature the term is used in its traditional sense for what
is here defined as carbenium ion.
-
A carbocation, real or hypothetical, that contains at least one five-coordinate carbon atom.
-
A carbocation, real or hypothetical, whose structure cannot adequately be described by two-electron
two-centre bonds only. (The structure may involve carbon atoms with a coordination number greater than five.)
Source:
PAC, 1994, 66, 1077
(Glossary of terms used in physical organic chemistry (IUPAC Recommendations 1994))
on page 1093
PAC, 1995, 67, 1307
(Glossary of class names of organic compounds and reactivity intermediates based on
structure (IUPAC Recommendations 1995))
on page 1325
Cite as:
IUPAC. Compendium of Chemical Terminology, 2nd ed. (the "Gold Book"). Compiled by
A. D. McNaught and A. Wilkinson. Blackwell Scientific Publications, Oxford (1997).
XML on-line corrected version: http://goldbook.iupac.org (2006-) created by M. Nic,
J. Jirat, B. Kosata; updates compiled by A. Jenkins. ISBN 0-9678550-9-8.
https://doi.org/10.1351/goldbook.
