Under common reaction conditions, a carboncation rearranges to another carbocation of equal or greater stability. For example secondary carbocation will rearrange to a tertiary carbocation. It will not rearrange to a less stable primary carbocation. This generalization is not absolute, and because there is not is a high energy barrier to the rearrangement of carbocations, rearrangement to a less stable cation can occur if it offers the chance to forme a more stable product.
In the following cation , `H//CH_(3)` that is most likely to migarte to the positively charged carbon is :
`H_(3)C^(1)-^(2)underset(OH)underset(|)overset(H)overset(|)C-^(3)underset(H)underset(|)overset(o+)C-^(4)underset(CH_(3))underset(|)overset(H)overset(|)C-^(5)CH_(3)`

Options

A. `CH_(3)"at"C-4`
B. `H"at"C-4`
C. `CH_(3)"at"C-2`
D. `H"at"C-2`

Answer

D

Explanation