[BabeToluene]

I'm confident in my answer to the first half of this question, which is getting the ρ value. I'm not sure whether or not I can support the author's conclusion for the transition structure though. At the moment I don't.

I got a ρ value of about ~5. Since it's such a high positive number, wouldn't that mean that electron density is being gained in the transition state. My correct or incorrect interpretation leads me to believe that (b) shows the electron density decreasing.

What do you guys think?

[MissPhosgene]

I hope this helps: The TS shown in b is inconsistent with a negative rho value.