Crystal Structure Determination of the Nonclassical 2-Norbornyl Cation

Abstract

A Nonclassical Conclusion The concept of valence, which underlies the Periodic Table, originated in studies of reactivity rather than structure. Nonetheless, when studies in the mid-20th century suggested that the transient norbornyl cation (C 7 H 11 + ) reacted as though a carbon center had adopted a formally pentacoordinate motif, this nonclassical structural hypothesis engendered tremendous controversy. Scholz et al. (p. 62 ) have now succeeded in characterizing the norbornyl cation by x-ray crystallography and confirm the symmetrical fivefold motif.