Question

In organic chemistry reactions, carbocations are sometimes formed during a reaction. A carbocation is a carbon that is positively charged. A simple example is CH3+, but other more complicated molecules can also have carbocations in their structures (such as CH3CH2+).

Which of the following can be said of a carbocation like CH3+?

A. CH3+ can act as a Lewis acid only
B. CH3+ can act as a Lewis acid and Bronsted-Lowry acid
C. CH3+ can act as a Lewis base only
D. CH3+ can act as a Lewis base and a Bronsted-Lowry base
E. CH3+ cannot act as either an acid or base

Answer 1

Answer:

The correct answer is option A. "CH3+ can act as a Lewis acid only".

Explanation:

In chemistry, a Lewis acid is defined as a substance that can accept a a pair of nonbonding electrons, participating in a reaction as an electron-pair acceptor. A carbocation that is positively charged as CH3+ does not have all their octet full of electrons. Therefore, CH3+ could act as an electron-pair acceptor and it acts a a Lewis acid only.