Dehydration Of 2-Methycyclohexanol

Dehydration is known as the process of removing water. During chemical dehydration covalent sigma bonds are broken into a hydroxyl group and a covalent sigma bond is broken to a hydrogen on an adjacent atom. A covalent pi bond forms between the two atoms on which the OH and H are bound and therefore chemical dehydration forms a new water molecule along with a new double bond. In this experiment 2-methycyclohexanol will react with phosphoric acid, the phosphoric acid will act as a catalyze. Drierite will be added to the reaction flask to adsorb both the water that forms and the water which is present in the phosphoric acid. The reaction is carried out in the bottom of the Hickman still. As the volatile alkene product forms it vaporizes and collects in the ring. When the reaction is carried out correctly, the product that condensed and is collected into ring of the Hickman still should be dry, free if starting alcohol and ready for analysis and determination. There is a possibility of three isomers forming, which are 1-methylcyclohexene, 3-methycycolohexene, and methylene cyclohexane. The formation of product was validated by IR spectrum. Upon adding phosphoric acid into the Hickman still, the reaction started right away. After about 15 minutes in sand bath the alcohol began to bubble at approximately 135.5°C. This continued for approximately 30 …show more content…
There were sp3 C-H peaks in the 2800-3100cm-1, sp2 C-H peaks in the 3100cm-1 range and C=C peaks in the 1620-1680cm-1. The conditions of this lab favored thermodynamic, since the reaction was under thermodynamic control that means the product with lost energy forms in the largest yield. 1-methylcyclohexene is the thermodynamic product because it is the most stable. The percent yield of product was 14.8 percent and the theoretical yield was 0.583g. In conclusion, this experiment was successful and the product 1-methylcyclohexene was