Alcohol Dehydration Lab

Formation of an Alkene by Alcohol Dehydration Lab Report Balanced Chemical Equation for the Main Reaction Mechanism The acid-catalyzed dehydration of secondary and tertiary alcohols involves non-isolable carbocation intermediaries. In the first step of the of the reaction mechanism below, a phosphoric acid catalyst adds a proton to the oxygen atom of the alcohol to form an oxonium ion. The OH is converted to a better leaving group as the positive charge on the oxygen weakens the carbon-oxygen bond. The carbon-oxygen bond breaks during heating giving water an unstable carbocation. Without a nucleophile, the carbocation intermediate loses a proton from a carbon and forms a carbon-carbon double bond from the carbon-hydrogen electrons. The
This dehydration may be accomplished using a strong mineral acid such as sulfuric and phosphoric acid. The first step in this transformation is protonation of the hydroxyl group by the acid yielding an excellent leaving group. Next water is eliminated from the molecule resulting in a carbocation intermediate, which then eliminates a proton to form an alkene. Questions Name and draw the structure of the alkenes that might be obtained by acid-catalyzed dehydration