Question

please help me with this
Which member of the following sets of compounds would you expect to be stable?

a) Cyclopentyl anion, cation or radical?
b) Cyclobutadiene dianion, radical or cation?
c) Cyclononatetraenyl radical, cation, or anion?

Answer 1

can i help

Answer 2

yes, please

Answer 3

The radical will definitely be the most UNSTABLE, given that there is a unpaired electron. i believe. secondary carbocations are relatively stable. I would say that the anion is unstable, because if you notice there are no elements nearby on the ring that can stabilize that negative charge.