Photo AI
Cyclohexanol is an alcohol and undergoes a dehydration reaction with sulfuric acid as shown - HSC - SSCE Chemistry - Question 11 - 2022 - Paper 1
Question 11
Cyclohexanol is an alcohol and undergoes a dehydration reaction with sulfuric acid as shown. What is the major organic product of this reaction? A. B. C. D.
Worked Solution & Example Answer:Cyclohexanol is an alcohol and undergoes a dehydration reaction with sulfuric acid as shown - HSC - SSCE Chemistry - Question 11 - 2022 - Paper 1
Step 1
What is the major organic product of this reaction?
Answer
To determine the major organic product of the dehydration reaction of cyclohexanol, we need to consider the mechanism of dehydration in the presence of concentrated sulfuric acid.
-
Formation of Carbocation: Upon treatment with sulfuric acid, cyclohexanol is protonated to form a more stable carbocation. This is generally a secondary carbocation due to the structure of cyclohexanol.
-
Loss of Water: The protonated alcohol then loses a molecule of water (a good leaving group) to form a carbocation intermediate.
-
Elimination: A base (often the bisulfate ion from sulfuric acid) abstracts a proton from a carbon adjacent to the carbocation, resulting in the formation of a double bond.
The dehydration of cyclohexanol typically leads to the formation of cyclohexene as the major product. Among the given options, the structure that corresponds to cyclohexene is found in Option B.