text: An important piece of early evidence in support of the homotropylium cation structure that did not rely on the magnetic properties of the molecule involved the acquisition of its UV spectrum. Winstein et al. determined that the absorption maxima for the homotropylium cation exhibited a considerably shorter wavelength than would be precited for the classical cyclooctatrienyl cation or the bicyclo[5.1.0]octadienyl compound with the fully formed internal cyclopropane bond (and a localized electronic structure). Instead, the UV spectrum most resembled that of the aromatic tropylium ion. Further calculations allowed Winstein to determine that the bond order between the two carbon atoms adjacent to the outlying methylene bridge is comparable to that of the π-bond separating the corresponding carbon atoms in the tropylium cation. Although this experiment proved to be highly illuminating, UV spectra are generally considered to be poor indicators of aromaticity or homoaromaticity.