The alcohol shown ionises (loss of hydroxide) to give a carbocation. Counting each carbon atom separately, how many carbon atoms carry the positive charge in at least one resonance contributor of this cation? Give your answer as an integer.

Numerical answer type, tolerance 0.5.

Answer: 7

The alcohol shown is diphenylmethanol, giving the diphenylmethyl cation. The charge sits on the central carbon and on the ortho and para carbons of each ring (3 per ring). The total is 1 + 3 + 3 = 7 (checked with RDKit).

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The alcohol shown ionises (loss of hydroxide) to give a carbocation. Counting each carbon atom separately, how many carbon atoms carry the positive charge in at least one resonance contributor of this cation? Give your answer as an integer.

Answer: 7

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