offers another approach to achieve a planar geometry by reducing steric repulsion around the cationic centre, with the formation of a triarylpropargyl cation. Reports on the triarylpropargyl cations are elusive due to the transient nature, stemming from the presence of an electron-withdrawing -C≡C-moiety attached to the cationic centre. While several attempts have been made to elucidate its electronic state, there are currently no examples of triarylpropargyl cations that are stable enough for investigation by X-ray crystallography.